52 Three Months' 1 Leave in Somali Land. 



river bank. Now I wanted to wait till it was 

 lighter, but all the men were fearfully excited and 

 swore she would be off, &c, and I was persuaded 

 to follow against my judgment. I went down into 

 the nullah so as to see better upwards, and Jama 

 very soon made her out about forty yards off, 

 near the top of the bank, in grass under a tree. 

 It was some time before I could make her out ; I 

 then saw her head, fired, and she vanished ; men 

 said miss ; the light was not good enough for a 

 certainty. Followed ; after about eighty yards 

 found she had gone into a bush about five yards 

 diameter, covered with dense creeper, so that it 

 was pitch dark inside. I tried to drive her out 

 by standing on one side and making the men 

 fire, but she would not move. Jama and I then 

 went close up and stooped down; he made her 

 out about four yards off, but I could see nothing 

 for a long time, he getting wild with excitement ; 

 at last I thought I could make out something 

 yellow where he pointed. I fired and stepped 

 back, expecting a charge. There was a lot of 

 kicking and growling, but no lioness. Soon we 

 went up again and Jama saw her again at five 

 yards ; after some time I thought I did, and fired 



