140 



THE LION. 



ox for a bait, and so, to save many a young and vigorous animal by the sacrifice of 

 one old and worn-out beast." 



? " A BOER, a very humorous fellow, told me that he was returning to his wagons one 

 evening, when he was far in the interior ; at the time, he had with him only the single 

 charge of powder with which his gun was loaded, as he had been out buck-shooting 

 all day. 



Straight in his path he disturbed a Lion, which jumped up and turned to look at 

 him. Very naturally, his first impulse was to fire, but remembering that he had but 

 that one charge in his gun, he changed his tactics. 



The Dutchmen usually wear large broad-brimmed felt hats, around which several 

 ostrich feathers are fastened. The Boer jumped from his horse, and pulled off his hat, 

 which he held with his teeth by the brim, so that the upper part only of his face could 

 be seen above the conglomeration of feathers. He then dropped upon his hands 

 and knees, and commenced crawling towards the Lion. Such a strange animal had 

 never before been seen by the astonished Leeuw, which turned and fled without a 

 moment's hesitation. 



This method of alarming animals is not always successful ; for whilst I was on the 

 frontier, a Hottentot, who had been told of a somewhat similar plan to frighten a 

 savage ox, met v.lth a severe accident. 



The man had been instructed that to stoop down and look back at an animal from 

 between the knees was a certain means of driving it away. So, being pursued by an 

 infuriated ox, he stopped short, and doubled himself up for his peep ; but unfortu- 

 nately without the desired result. For the animal charged home, ripped up the Totty's 

 leather crackers, wounded him, and sent him sprawling into a bush." 



" AN OLD DUTCH BOER, who lived under the shadow of the Draakensberg mountains, 

 gave me the following account of an interview with a Lion. The man was a well- 

 known sportsman, and lived principally by means of the dollars which he realized 

 upon ivory and skins. He was accustomed to make a trip each year into the game 

 country, and traded with the Kaffirs or other inhabitants, under very favorable 

 auspices. His stock-in-trade consisted of his guns and ammunition, several spans of 

 fine oxen, some horses, and about a dozen dogs. 



A Lion, which appeared to have been roaming about the country, happened to pass 

 near this Boer's location, and scenting the three coursers kept by the Boer, thought 

 that the locality might suit him for a short period. A dense kloof, situated about a 

 mile from the farm, afforded both shelter and water, and this spot the Lion selected as 

 a favorable position for his headquarters. 



The Boer had not to wait for more than a day, before the suspicions which had been 

 excited in his mind by some broad footmarks which he saw imprinted in the soil, were 

 confirmed into a certainty that a full-grown Lion had passed near his residence. 



It now became a question of policy, whether the Boer should attack the Lion, or 

 wait for the Lion to attack him. He thought it quite possible, that Leeuw, having 

 been warned off by the dogs, whose barking had been furious and continued during 

 the night on which the Lion was supposed to have passed the farm, might think dis- 

 cretion to be the better part of valor, and consequently would move farther on, in 

 search of a less carefully guarded locality upon which to quarter himself. He deter- 

 mined, therefore, to wait, but to use every precaution against a night surprise. 



The Lion, however, was more than a match for the Boer. For during the second 

 night, Roeberg, the stout after-ox of the pet span, was quietly carried off, and although 

 there was some commotion amongst the dogs and cattle, it was supposed that the 

 alarm had scared the Lion, which had then decamped. 



The morning light, however, showed that the poacher had leapt the palisade which 

 surrounded the kraal, and having killed the ox had evidently endeavored to scramble 

 over it again, with the ox in his possession. The joint weight of the Lion and ox had 

 caused the stakes to give way, and an exit had then been easily effected. 



The spoor of the Lion was immediately followed by the Boer, who took with him a 

 Hottentot and half-a-dozen of his best dogs. The traces were easily seen, and the 

 hunters had no difficulty in deciding that the Lion was in the kloof. But this in itself 



