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THE SOCIETY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF 



the effects of the human voice, I shouted at the 

 pitch of my lungs all the most opprobrious epithets 

 of which I was master. I fear much of what I said 

 would be unprintable and quite unfit to " point a 

 moral or adorn a tale," but I don't think under the 

 circumstances that even the most pronounced 

 advocate of the " suaviter in modo " could have 

 expected me to be polite. 



Perhaps the force and volume of my language 

 helped what my good little knife had bcgun,but any- 

 how, after what seemed an age and may have been 

 only a few seconds, the lion turned and was lost to 

 sight in the darkness. I could hear his growls 

 turning to moans, which got fainter and finally 

 ceased, and to my inexpressible relief I felt that I 

 had probably killed him. Before this, however, I 

 had lost no time in getting up the friendly tree 

 as expeditiously as my lacerated right shoulder 

 would permit me, and was hardly safely ensconced 

 out of danger, when the other lion, who had 

 made a long and unsuccessful chase after my 

 horse with " Bull " sticking close and barking all 

 the time, returned to the spot where it had parted 

 from its companion, immediately picked up my 

 blood spoor, and came with a rush nearly to the 

 foot of my tree. I now shouted to the dog to en- 

 courage him, and he went for the lion in great style, 

 barking all round him, until the latter retreated 

 and disappeared for a few minutes, at the end of 

 which he returned and made an ugly charge at the 

 dog, who cleverly avoided him, and nothing daunted 

 returned to the attack, encouraged by my shouts. 



