20 SPORT, TRAVEL, AND ADVENTURE 



been with me in Abyssinia), were then told off with 

 the ponies to scour the plain in front of us, and with 

 the usual Somali yells and whoops they galloped off 

 in a state of high excitement. For some time they 

 were lost to sight, and we tramped in the direction 

 they had taken, till presently Bodley galloped 

 furiously back and said that they had cornered 

 one lion, but that the other two had got clear 

 away. Hurrying to the spot indicated, we came in 

 sight of the Somalis on their ponies, shouting and 

 irritating the lion, which we could hear growling 

 savagely in the long grass. Having made out more 

 or less where the animal was, we carefully went 

 forward and got on a low ant-heap, from the top 

 of which I had a fair view of the beast, which 

 turned out to be a lioness. I was carrying a 

 Ross straight-pull -370 magazine, while Owad had a 

 400 Jeffery cordite, and Darod a Paradox by Purdey. 

 We were only about sixty yards or less distant from 

 our quarry, but, probably owing to the excitement,, 

 and to the fact that I was blown from my walk, 

 my first shot missed clean. My, second, better aimed, 

 caught the lioness in the lungs, whereupon she began 

 running round and round in a circle, biting at her flanks 

 and growling and snarling furiously. At this critical 

 moment Owad and Darod foolishly let drive, and, as 

 was to be expected, missed. Then she saw us and 

 promptly charged. It was a fine sight to see her 

 lithe body, with head and tail out and lips drawn 

 back from the teeth, charging through the long 

 grass, while we three fools solemnly missed her. 

 Matters had now become decidedly serious, for the 

 Somalis' rifles were empty and mine was not a very 



