THE HAUNTS OF LIONS. 



247 



seen from the following. When the alarm of the 

 catastrophe was given, rifle in hand, and accompanied 

 by some of his people, he hurried to the place where 

 his beast had been pulled down. To his surprise, 

 instead of seeing one lion, he found five, and as he 

 remarked, " the odds were rather against me, and I 

 could not bring the horse to life, so I thought it 

 more prudent to go back, and get out of the neigh- 

 bourhood as soon as possible." Just so, the course 

 he took was the most prudent, and anyone who had 

 seen his rifle would have said the same. It was a 

 Liege-built piece, looked as if it had been made in 

 the year one, with both locks so defective and weak 

 that it must always have been a matter of consider- 

 able doubt whether their main-springs possessed 

 power to explode a cap. Fancy travelling in 

 this country with only such a specimen of firearms 

 for your protection ; it verily says much for the 

 honesty and peacefulness of the natives. This man 

 was reported to be wealthy. I trust he will not some 

 day discover, to his cost, that to be penny wise is 

 pound foolish. 



Lions were heard all that night ; possibly they 

 were those that despoiled my friend ; however, they 

 did not pay me a visit. When there is plenty of 

 water lying on the veldt, lions move about a great 

 deal, as does the other game ; but when water is 

 scarce they attach themselves to a pit or vley, in 

 the vicinity of which they can almost al any time be 

 found. 



The reader may have possibly observed that I have 

 alluded to game running up wind. This instinct is one 

 of those grand provisions of nature, instilled into them 

 (the wild animals) by an extrac-^'nary controlling 

 influence, that takes upon itself to dictate the means 

 that lessen the hazards of the life that they are sub- 

 mitted to. Hence, running up wind tells the weaker 

 creatures where danger (by the power of scent) is to be 



