of the Old World. 473 



I crawled on my hands and knees for some time, 

 until I came to the edge of a steep chasm, about ten 

 feet deep, at the bottom of which was dense cover. 

 There I remained for nearly ten minutes listening to 

 the noise, which appeared to come from some thick 

 bush, behind which, when the clouds rolled away 

 from the face of the moon, I could perceive a dark 

 body, in which at times I thought I saw a slight 

 movement. I watched for some time, but could see 

 nothing, though the growling was still heard now and 

 again ; and at times I fancied I saw something stir- 

 ring. I drew my pistol, and fired a double shot at 

 what I thought was the body of the lion, in order 

 to make him show face ; a loud growl followed, we 

 heard a crashing among the underwood, and the 

 brute had stolen away without showing fight, for in 

 about ten minutes we heard him roar about half a 

 mile off. 



The moon now became overclouded, and our chance 

 was up for the time, so we returned to the douar, 

 where the Caid had prepared a tent for us, in which 

 we slept very comfortably rolled up in our blankets. 



The third lion was heard roaring in the distance, 

 as he lurked round a neighbouring douar. 



Saturday, 27th. The Caid sent us a substantial 

 breakfast, which consisted of hard-boiled eggs, hot 

 gallets, made of fine white flour, milk, butter, and 

 a huge dish of " kouskous," the staple food of the 



