AT GRIPS WITH THE LION 75 



I tore back the bolt of my rifle, threw out the 

 empty shell, and tried to jump back behind the 

 bush out of the lion's way. He had charged in 

 absolute silence, coming very fast, not in great 

 bounds, but with a sort of run along the ground. 

 Now he came round the bush like a flash, knocking 

 me down, and throwing me several yards behind 

 the bush. I do not quite understand how he 

 actually knocked me over, for I was not clawed in 

 any way, and I heard afterwards that I had broken 

 one of his forelegs. I only know that when he 

 reached me I was off my balance. Anyone who 

 has done or watched much boxing will understand 

 how a man, caught retreating off his balance, can 

 be knocked over with quite a light blow — a blow 

 hardly felt ; it is a very different matter to 

 receive a punch when advancing towards it. 



Something similar to this, I think, happened in 

 my case. After knocking me down, the lion 

 rushed in on my right side, and instinctively I 

 tried to ward him off by shoving my rifle, which 

 I still had hold of, up against him. He bit 

 savagely on this several times, biting right 

 through and cracking the thin part of the stock. 

 Then he seized me and bit me several times 

 through the wrist, breaking it badly and splintering 

 some of the small bones. These bites hurt like 

 fury at the moment : it was like a nine-inch nail 

 being continually driven through one's hand. 

 The lion bit very quickly, but with a horribly 

 silent ferocity. He would have done better, I 



