88 SPORT AND TRAVEL PAPERS 



he must almost have brushed with his mane. It seems an 

 extraordinary thing that the animals did not hreak away ; they 

 must either have been very fast asleep or palsied by fright. 

 Arrived near the camp fire, which had burned very low, and 

 where everything was hushed in sleep, this lion, so difficult to 

 satisfy, at last found something to his taste whether guided 

 to it by sight or smell will never be known the feet of an 

 Arab not perhaps exactly what everybody would have chosen, 

 but there is no accounting for taste, certainly not for that of 

 a lion ! Having seized both feet, he dragged their owner down 

 into the river-bed and only dropped him there when startled 

 by the noise of the roused camp. It was his last foray, for, 

 unfortunately for him, a lucky bullet wounded him in the foot, 

 when, disappointed of his human supper, he walked into his 

 native jungle, a wound which, bleeding well, led in a few hours 

 to his death. The soft soil on which our camp stood made the 

 peregrinations of the lion very plain to read. 



Breakfast was ready and soon despatched, as we both were 

 very keen to bring our friend to book ; so with two trackers and 

 our heavy rifles we took up the trail. Crossing the bed of the 

 stream our party entered the dome-palm jungle beyond, and 

 soon found a pool of blood and then another, the discovery of 

 which considerably raised our hopes, showing, as it did, that 

 probably the lion was seriously wounded. The bloody trail led 

 us to the main river, across it, and into the jungle beyond. 

 The pugs were very large, promising a noble lion ; the print of 

 the left forefoot being much less distinct than those of the 

 others, pointed at once to the seat of the wound. The jungle 

 which we had now entered was very thick below, composed of 

 young dome-palms with their broad, feathery leaves, high grass, 

 and shrubs covered the most vicious thorns, the whole being 

 overlooked by the bare stems and leafy crowns of these useful 

 palms which everywhere here fringe the river banks altogether 

 not exactly the place one would choose to visit a wounded lion. 

 On we went, when suddenly a noise was heard in the grass 

 ahead, and for a second we saw our friend of the night before 

 disappearing through a bush. He evidently was full of life 

 still, but the exertion made his wound bleed more profusely, 

 and, coming soon after on barer ground, this was very 

 apparent. Forcing our way through some most disagree- 



