142 



THE LION. 



detection. By this arrangement the Boer demonstrated the truth of the proverb with 

 reference to the pot and the kettle, for the Dutchmen are not fonder of lavations than 

 their Hottentot servants, and it is probable that, although a wide-awake Lion might 

 have scented the Totty at 600 yards down wind, he would have discovered the Boer 

 under similar conditions at 400 yards. We must, however, take the Boer's reason as 

 a just one, and conclude that to leave his Totty at home was a wise precaution. 



On the first occasion, when the Lion was attacked by the Boer, it had been bayed by 

 the dogs near some tall trees, far down in the kloof. If the animal had again selected 

 the same location, the Boer would have had to creep through two or three hundred 

 yards of thorny bush, and he would probably have alarmed the Lion long before he 

 arrived within shot. He had thought over this, and had concluded that after drag- 

 ging the carcass of the horse all the way from the farm, the Lion would not be disposed 

 to drag it very far through the underwood in the kloof, and that, therefore, he should 

 find the carcass of the horse at least at no great distance from the edge of the ravine, 

 and probably the Lion close to it. 



Now it is the nature of the Lion, when gorged, to sleep during the day ; and if the 

 animal has carried off any prey, it usually conceals itself near the remains to watch 

 them until it is ready for another feast. 



The Boer was aware of all this, and had laid his plans very judiciously. He 

 approached the kloof slowly and silently, hit off the spoor of the Lion, and traced the 

 spot where the horse had been allowed to remain on the ground for a short time. 



Although he moved onwards very slowly and with great caution, he was soon 

 surrounded, by the bush ; and the brightness of the plain was succeeded by the gloorn 

 of the kloof. Being a most experienced hand at bushcraft, he was enabled to walk or 

 crawl without causing either a dried stick to crack or a leaf to rustle, and he was aware 

 that his progress had been accomplished without noise ; for the small birds, usually so 

 watchful and so much on the alert, flew away only when he approached close to them, 

 thus showing that their eyes and not their ears had made them conscious of the 

 presence of man. 



Birds and monkeys are the great obstacles in the bush to the success of a surprise, 

 for the birds fly from tree to tree, and whistle or twitter, whilst the monkeys chatter 

 and grimace, and express, by all sorts of harlequin movements, that some curious creat- 

 ure is approaching. When, therefore, the bushranger finds that birds and monkeys 

 are unconscious of his presence until they see him, he may be satisfied that he has 

 traversed the bush with tolerable silence, and has Vanquished such formidable obstacles 

 as sticks hidden by leaves, broken and dead branches, etc. 



There is a vast difference between hearing or reading how any dangerous work has 

 been accomplished, and doing that work itself. But we can, by imagining ourselves in 

 the position of the performer, realize in a measure the sort of sensations wl^ich he must 

 have experienced, and we can then weigh the effect which the circumstance would have 

 produced upon our own moderately strong nerves. It is highly probable that those who 

 sigh for new sensations, might possibly find them were they to enter a dense bush on 

 foot, and expect momentarily to meet, within speaking distance, a Lion of capacious 

 maw, or a long-tusked, heavy-footed elephant, or even such a moderate opponent as a 

 bull buffalo. 



The effect produced upon the system is much decreased when many individuals are 

 together. To obtain the most satisfactory results, therefore, a person should undertake 

 the journey alone, and he will soon learn to consider those only as epicures who thus 

 conjointly enjoy solitude and excitement. 



The Boer had penetrated scarcely fifty yards into the bush, when he had reason to 

 suspect that he was close upon the lair of the Lion. He believed that such was a fact 

 in consequence of the strong leonine scent, and from a part of the carcass of the horse 

 being visible between the intervening branches. Instead, therefore, of advancing, as 

 an incautious or inexperienced bushranger would have done, he crouched down behind 

 a bush, and assumed a convenient attitude, so that he could remain still without in- 

 convenience. 



All the animal creation are aware of the advantages of a surprise, and the feline tribe 



