WILD LIFE ACROSS THE WORLD 



suddenly became aware that he was being stalked by 

 a lion. The brute was closing in on him from the 

 right. Almost immediately afterwards he caught sight 

 of another on his left ; and then, glancing over his 

 shoulder, he saw yet a third one behind him. The 

 first two came within twenty yards, and continued 

 sHnking along parallel to the path, whilst every 

 now and then the other would take a short run 

 forward, pretending to charge. It was an experience 

 which might have shattered the nerve of any man ; 

 fortunately. Hill did not lose his head. The natural 

 instinct was to make a sprint forward, and had he 

 done so the brutes would have been on him before 

 he had gone half a dozen yards. Somehow — it must 

 have needed a tremendous effort of will — he managed 

 to continue walking steadily forward, taking no 

 apparent notice of the attempts to stampede him. 

 Actually it was not until he was within a hundred and 

 eighty yards of the house that they decided to leave him 

 alone. He added that just as he reached safety his 

 knees literally gave way under him. I can readily 

 believe it. The strain must have been appalling. 

 I doubt if he v/ill ever again try tramping across that 

 stretch of veldt without a rifle. 



On our way to Kapiti Station we came across 

 various kinds of game, which I tried, unsuccessfully, 

 to stalk. This occupied a good part of the day, with 

 the result that we had to camp down in the open. 



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