CHAP. 11.] ATTEMPT AT REVENGE. 4^ 



We hunted about the whole day after the lions, but 

 their spoors were lost among the rocks, and we could 

 not see one of them. Andersson and I, therefore, 

 determined to sit up and watch for them, as they 

 were sure to retm'n to the carcases in the night. 

 There were two spots, where we might lie in wait; 

 the one a camelthorn tree, about fifty yards from the 

 mule, but with a most difficult trunk to climb, so 

 thick and straight, that ropes would be necessary ; the 

 other, a ledge in the rock, at the very spot where we 

 had been liidmg the meat. The cliff rose abruptly 

 above us — a man could easily chmb it ; but we agreed, 

 in our innocence, that a Hon could not. So, when the 

 strayed mules and horses had been recovered in safety, 

 we went to the cart, had our dinner, and brought down 

 our warm coats and spare guns, as the evening closed 

 in. Stewartson, with two or thi'ee hands, came with 

 us to carry back the horse-meat. It became rapidly 

 twilight, as the sun set behind the crags, thi'owing the 

 deep gorge of the Swakop into shadow ; and there was 

 no time to be lost" in getting down the meat and in 

 choosing our positions, for the lions were due at 

 nightfall. We walked quickly to the dead mule, and 

 as we went, the men pointed out five or six deer, or 

 something like them, that we could not clearly see, 

 boimding along the rocks above us and parallel to us. 

 We came to the place, the mule lay as we had left 

 her. Andersson had gone to the other side of the 

 river to reconnoitre something, and I left my guns, 

 &c., at the bottom of the rock, with Stewartson and 

 the men, and ran u}) to fetch the meat. I was busy 



