lir, DIVISION I. VERTERRAL AXOIALS. — CLASS I. JIAJIMALIA. 



a,te, or if llic horses, startled by liis terrific roar, grow frantic with terror 

 and Ijurst loose, the business becomes ratlu'r serious, and may end in mis- 

 chief, especially if all the party are not men of courage, coolness, and expe- 

 rience. Tiie frontier boors are, however, generally sneh excellent marks- 

 men, and withal so cool and deliberate, that they seldom fail to shoot him 

 dead as soon as they get within a fair distance. 



" In the present insta.iice we did nut manage matters quite so scientifically. 

 The l>astaards, after recounting to us all these and other sage laws of lion- 

 hunting, were themselves tlie first to depart from them. Finding that with 

 the few indiilerent hounds we had made little impression on the enemy, 

 thev divided themselves into two or three jiarties, and rode I'ound the Jungle, 

 fu'ing into the spot where the dogs were barking round him, but without 

 efrect. At length, after some hours spent in thus beating about the bush, 

 the Scottish blood of some of my countrymen began to get iiupatien-t, and 

 three of them announced their determination to break in, and beard the lion 

 in his den, pro\idcd three of the Bastaards (who were superior marksmen) 

 woidd snp[iiirt thcui, and follow uji their lire sliDuld ihe enemy venture to 

 gi\e battle. ^Veeordiugly in tliey went, in s[)ite of the warnings of some 

 more prudent men, to williin ill'teeu or twenty paces of the spot where the 

 animal lav concealed, lie was couched among tlic n]ots of a large ever- 

 green, but with a small space of open ground on one side of it; and they 

 fancied, on approaching, that they saw him disliiu'tly lying, glaring at 

 them, under the foliage. Charging the Iiastaards to stand firm and le\el 

 fair .-hould they miss, the Scottish champions let ily together, and struck — 

 not the lion, as it afterwards proved, but a great block of red stone, beyond 

 which he was actually lying. 



"Whether any of the shot grazed him is uncertain, but, with no other 

 warning than a furious gi'owl, forth he bolted from the bush. The rascally 

 Bastaards, in place of pouring in their volley upon him, instantly turned and 

 ran, helter-skelter, lea\ing him to do his pleasure upon the defenceless 

 Scots, who, with empty guns, were tumbling o\ereach other, in their hurry 

 to escape the clutch of the rampant sa\age. In a twinkling he was upon 

 them, and, with one stroke of his paw, dashed the nearest to tlie ground. 

 The scene was terrific. There stood the lion, with his foot upon his pros- 

 trate foe, looking round in conscious jiride upon the bands of his assailants, 

 and with a port the most noble and imposing that can be conceived. It 

 was the most magnificent thing I ever witnessed. The danger of oui> 

 friends, however, rendered it at the moment too terril)le to enjoy either the 

 grand or the ludicrous part of the picture. "We cx])ected every instant to sec 

 one or more of them torn in pieces ; nor, though the rest of the party were 

 standing within fifty paces, with their guns cocked and levelled, durst we 



