90 SPORT AND TRAVEL PAPERS 



nothing can be compared with it as the lion is the king of 

 beasts, so is lion shooting the king of sports. 



His measurements were : 9 feet from tip of nose to tip of tail, 

 measured with his nose raised level with the back ; from top of 

 withers to foot, 3 feet 11 inches ; 19 inches round upper, and 16 

 round forearm. 



The first bullet had broken the bones of the foot and torn a 

 large blood-vessel, thanks to which the tracking became so easy. 

 My last bullet had entered the forehead, broken the lower jaw, 

 and then passed on into the chest. A camel was sent for, and 

 the skin and skull taken to camp. We could not find the 

 wanting pieces from the Arab's feet in the stomach. The death 

 of the lion, however, was a source of great satisfaction to the 

 wounded man, and, I trust, accelerated his recovery. 



We at once sent to his village to acquaint his people with the 

 unfortunate accident, and in a day or two his wife and son 

 arrived with an enormous ox, carrying a most uncomfortable 

 looking sort of pad for the transport of the wounded man. On 

 to this he was hoisted, and, provided with meat and other 

 necessaries for the road, he started off comparatively happy, 

 taking one more look at the skin of his would-be murderer. 

 Though he did not carry his own skin away without a few extra 

 holes, he no doubt shuddered when the fate which he had so 

 happily escaped was recalled to his mind. 



This was the only lion which I was destined to kill, or even 

 to see. A month or more before the above adventure, when we 

 first entered the country honoured by the king of beasts, lion 

 shooting had seemed so simple to me, though, unluckily, but for 

 one short night. Gr. and I were asleep, as was our habit, at a 

 little distance from the camp fire, when I was awoke by one of 

 our men whispering the magic word " asad " (lion) close to me. 

 G., first aroused, was already out of bed, and, rifle in hand, 

 followed the man at once. In less than a minute I heard two 

 shots in rapid succession, succeeded by a great scrambling as of 

 some heavy animal on the bank overlooking our camp. Now 

 also wide awake, I was in the act of turning out, when G. 

 returned saying, " Well, at all events there is one lion less in 

 Africa." How simple lion shooting then seemed! But, alas! 

 next morning we found that shooting did not necessarily also 

 mean bagging. Of course at daybreak we were up, expecting to 



