CREATURES OF THE WILDERNESS 155 



back, I managed to bring up one of the men 

 with a rifle, a single-barrelled weapon which, 

 in view of the presence of other lions, I pre- 

 ferred not to use first. My soldier orderly 

 had to make a second trip to get the other, 

 a double "450, for the other gun-bearer was 

 too scared to bring it himself. All this time 

 the lioness kept her position, showing no sign 

 of uneasiness, and not even stirring when I 

 took a step forward and sat down on a stone 

 so as to take steady aim. The shot knocked 

 her, dying, down the hillside, and at this the 

 other two began growling and 'wuffing,' but, 

 to my disappointment, they did not show up. 

 I gave them a few moments' grace, and then 

 went very cautiously in their direction. Coming 

 round a huge boulder, I came suddenly on the 

 lioness, but could see only her tail, the rest 

 of her being hidden behind the rock. The 

 tail was nearest to me, but just as I caught 

 sight of it it gave such a swing that I feared 

 the lioness must have turned and might be 

 waiting to strike me down as I passed. In 

 order to avoid this, I turned back and climbed 

 the boulder quickly in the hope of seeing her 

 below me, but, alas, I never saw her again. 

 Almost immediately, however, we had a view 

 of the lion trotting away in the plain below, 

 some two hundred yards away, but the bush 

 was so thick that a shot was out of the 

 question. I saw him once again, some three 

 or four hundred yards away, and, marking 

 him as best I could by the trees, I left the 

 hill and ran after him, but the grass was very 



