XX 



FURTHER ADVENTURES WITH LIONS 



IN the fall of 1899 I had a most exciting adventure 

 with an old, heavily maned lion on the right bank of 

 the Pangani River. For a few days tracks of lions were 

 found by me near our camp ; their roaring, coming from 

 a certain part of the river, broke the stillness of the 

 night. I was very anxious to catch a number of striped 

 hyenas, and had set'my traps. An old lion had stepped 

 into one of them and had torn it from its chain. Early 

 in the morning I followed his track, which led through 

 thorny bushes. The trap apparently clung to the lion's 

 foot. Suddenly I heard the low growl of the animal 

 close by; the next moment I saw him running deeper 

 into the thicket, dragging the clattering trap along wi-th 

 him. Several times I got near enough to him, but the 

 thicket prevented me from taking aim accurately, and to 

 shoot at random would have been simply suicidal. I 

 chased the lion for a long time, hoping that he might 

 leave the thicket and make for the sandy and rocky 

 steppe. This he finally did. I took it for granted that 

 he could not escap)e me. l^ut he managed to free him- 



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