THE KATHIAWAR LION. 747 



peering about, I caught sight of it lying down under another 

 tree, and after signalling to the others to be on the lookout 

 I fired from a sitting position, the only one in which I could see 

 the lion from where I happened to be. This was the signal 

 for everyone, including the sepoys to empty their rifles ! How any 

 one escaped being hit was a wonder. The lion, in the meantime, ' 

 was bolting away, though not at any great pace, as my first shot 

 had struck it in the body, my second went anywhere, but I 

 managed to get in a third shot with the 8-bore which my man 

 thrust into my hands just in time, and this was followed by the 

 welcome thud and the appearance of a red patch on the lion's 

 side. With the left barrel, fired as it was disappearing, I missed. 

 While we were, all reloading, a second lion, which must have 

 been lying somewhere near, suddenly appeared and stood growling 

 at us for a few seconds but followed in the wake of its companion 

 before anyone was ready to fire. All this took place within the 

 space of a few seconds. The wounded lion with an 8-bore bullet 

 through its body was unlikely to go very far. We gave it 

 about twenty minutes law and then commenced to follow up, 

 taking care not to run any further risks from the sepoys by 

 leaving them behind. The pagis did the tracking, while we three 

 kept a sharp lookout ahead. We very soon came up on the 

 lion. It was lying on the ground. I got in the first shot, when 

 it went off again without attempting to charge ; but only to 

 fall again a few yards further on, where another shot killed it 

 outright. "What a cur" was the first remark, made by one 

 of my companions, when it was all over, and he was right. 

 Temperaments vary amongst all animals as much as they 

 do amongst human beings. It was a fine lion with a good 

 mane. 



I got Jchubber of two more lions on the next day, but they had 

 moved before I reached the jungle in which they had been 

 marked down. 



A few mornings later, I found the tracks of a lion just outside 

 my tent. It had sauntered up during the night to within fifty 

 yards of it, with no evil intentions I am sure, and then turned 

 abruptly off into the jungles. We tried but did not succeed 



