122 THE LION. 



danger, and, consequently, the Dutchman and his son reached the stallion before any other aid 

 arrived. 



"The course which they had followed caused them to lose sight of the Lion in con- 

 sequence of intervening slopes of ground, so that, upon reaching the horse, which was grazing 

 unconscious of danger, no Lion was to be seen. The young Boer, acting against the advice of 

 his father, walked along the side of a ravine, in search of the grim monster. The old Boer 

 repeatedly called to his incautious son to come back, and wait for the Hottentots and the dogs, 

 which would soon come up ; but, finding his advice disregarded, he left the horse, and walked 

 towards his son, whom he found throwing stones into the long grass which fringed the edge 

 of the ravine for the purpose of starting the Lion. When the Boer was about a hundred yards 

 from the lad, he saw him stop, raise his gun, and fire suddenly, though apparently without 

 aim, and then turn, running a few paces towards him. At the same instant, he saw the Lion 

 make two prodigious bounds, and alight on his boy, whom he instantly dragged to the ground. 



"All this occurred in a very few seconds ; so that before the Boer, who ran to the rescue, 

 arrived, the young Dutchman was mortally wounded. The Lion, crouching down among the 

 long grass, retreated a few yards, then bounded over the rocks and reeds until out of sight, 

 the shot which was fired by the old Boer being unheeded by him. When the father reached 

 the fatal spot, he found his son senseless, and torn so fearfully as to preclude all possibility of 

 recovery. He, however, had him conveyed home, but the lad never again spoke, and died 

 during the night. Revenge was the first thought of the old Dutchman, who immediately sent 

 round to his neighbors to warn them that a Lion was in their vicinity, and to beg their 

 assistance on the following day in tracing the Lion to its den. 



"The night was passed by the Boer as usual ; for these men are very philosophic, and 

 rarely allow any circumstance to interfere with their comfort. On the following morning, 

 however, he was up very early, busily preparing for the great business of the day ; bullets 

 were being cast and powder-horn filled, etc., etc., when he was suddenly interrupted by the 

 entrance of his little Bushman, who had, since his capture by the Boer some years before, 

 reached his full growth, and might be estimated at any age between sixteen and sixty. 



" ' What do you here ? ' asked the Dutchman. 



' ' The Bushman, who was armed with his tiny bow and arrows, answered by showing a 

 small tuft of black hair like a shaving brush. 



' ' This was an intelligible answer to the Boer, who, with eagerness, demanded the par- 

 ticulars ; and the following is a translation of the Bushman's account. 



' ' When the Lion struck down the young Dutchman, the Bushman was sitting upon a 

 rock which commanded a view of the scene. The little creature then watched the Lion in its 

 retreat, and marked it down amongst some long grass and bushes at the distance of a mile or 

 so. He then procured an old and nearly useless ox from the cattle kraal, and arming himself 

 with his bow and poisonous arrows, drove the beast close to the Lion' s retreat, made it fast to 

 a bush, and concealed himself in some long grass. 



"The Bushman, from his nocturnal habits, can see by night nearly as well as by day ; and 

 so, when, shortly after dark, the Lion left his lair and walked on to the open plain outside, 

 the Bushman was an attentive observer of his movements. 



"The ox soon attracted the attention of the Lion, which approached with caution upon 

 its victim ; the Bushman at the same time holding his bow and arrows in readiness for an 

 attack upon Ms victim. Soon the Lion sprang upon the ox, and, at the instant when he was 

 engaged in the death struggle, the Bushman, with great rapidity, twice twanged his bow, and 

 lodged two poisoned barbs in the Lion's flesh. 



"The ox was soon overcome, and was dragged amongst the reeds, whilst the Bushman 

 sought shelter in the crannies of the rocks near the scene of his operations. 



"As soon as day began to dawn, the Bushman commenced his stealthy approach, through 

 the grass and reeds, towards the Lion's lair, and was shortly sitting grinning on the carcass of 

 the Lion, which, but a few hours before, was a terror to all the Hottentots on the farm, but 

 now, overcome by the malignant poison with which the arrows had been prepared, was as 

 harmless as one of the stones on which he lay. 



