WITH FLASH-LIGHT AND RIFLE 



not very successful. He saw some antelopes, but missed 

 them. 



When I followed the corporal about half an hour after- 

 wards, I saw to my right, not so very far off, a gazelle 

 buck. I beckoned to my men to stand still, and tried to 

 stalk the animal. I had approached within about two 

 hundred feet of the buck — my Askaris were about one 

 thousand feet behind me and hidden from me by the un- 

 evenness of the ground — when I noticed, three hundred 

 feet or so beyond him, a yellow spot. It was the head 

 of a lion ; there was no mistake about it. At the same 

 time I heard, coming from iny right, a well-known sound, 

 and, turning around, I saw, about four hundred feet away 

 from me, a big male lion with a blackish mane standing 

 in the grass. My whole attention had been centred 

 on the gazelle, and I was taken c^uite unawares by the 

 sudden appearance of two lions. This was too much of 

 a good thing for a single hunter. I felt very keenly my 

 helplessness to cope with the two beasts at once. I had 

 but one cartridge in my rifle; if it should be spent 

 without success, the lion might not give me time to 

 reload. 



I got ready to fire, keeping my eye on the nearest 

 lion, a male, who in turn did not take his eye off me, 

 standing with head erect, growling low and long. How 

 long did we face each other ? It may have been only 

 a few minutes ; it seemed an eternity to me. I felt an 

 unspeakable relief when I heard some of my men calling 



214 



