of the Old World. 467 



the morning, at times hearing the lion roar, more or 

 less distinctly, as he roamed about, when, becoming 

 impatient, and feeling an old wound ache from 

 change of weather and my cramped position, I 

 wrapped my waterproof round my gun, and placed 

 it against a tree, and, armed with my double rifle and 

 revolver, sallied out towards the point where I fancied 

 the lion was. 



Guided by his roar, which very much resembles 

 the noise made by a bull, followed by several grunts, 

 though, of course, much louder, I scrambled through 

 the brushwood until I got so near that I could dis- 

 tinctly hear him breathe, or rather snore, as he 

 moved along. 



Eain was now falling very heavily ; my clothes 

 were wet through and through, and the night was so 

 dark that I could hardly see two yards before me. I 

 lay down and placed my ear to the ground every now 

 and then, creeping on with the greatest caution, fear- 

 ing that my footsteps might betray me. 



I could distinctly hear the lion making a curious 

 moaning sound and grunting, within fifty paces from 

 me, and at times I thought I heard a rustling among 

 the bushes as if he was coming towards me, but I 

 saw nothing. 



This game must have lasted nearly an hour, and I 

 was getting nearly tired of it, when, as I was creep- 

 ing along on my hands and knees, I suddenly fell 



2 n 2 



