A Breath from the Veldt i.^^ 



It must have been some time after midnight, for I had sat up till nearly 

 twelve, when bang went one of the two fixed rifles, immediately followed by 

 another shot and a succession of loud roars, gradually dying to a painful moan. 

 We knew then that His Royal Highness had arrived, and had received the 

 welcome prepared for him. For the first time for many days the old man 

 beamed with delight ; the enemy, he said, had got the shots properly, and all 

 things were now lovely. Clas now began yelling in Shangan, and was answered 

 by a still small voice far away up amongst the rocks, and Office presently 

 informed us that the chief was coming down to look us up. Yellow flashes of 

 light began to appear in the bush, and presently N'Dale and his three sons, all 

 fully armed, arrived and squatted by the side of the fire. He said he was going 

 now to dance on his enemy, the lion, and invited us to accompany him. This 

 was of course a bit of swagger on his part, as well as a draw, to see what we 

 would do, but (as Artemus Ward says) " not being natural born fools," we 

 declined the bombastic invitation. Now — whether you are an old hand or 

 not — hunting up wounded lions without the aid of dogs is a ticklish proceeding 

 even in broad daylight ; but to go and take your chance of finding a possibly 

 wounded lion on a pitch-dark night is what no man in his senses would think 

 of doing. So telling him (in politer language) that if he liked to make an ass 

 of himself we should offer no objection, we sat still to see what he would do 

 next. Four other natives now turned up, and by N'Dale's orders made big 

 grass torches, and started away from the fire in the direction of the " still." This, 

 I suspect, in the hope of moving us, for they returned at once, saying the grass 

 would not keep alight. We all waited therefore till daybreak, by which time 

 a rabble of heavily-armed natives had assembled. Then, when the light was 

 sufficiently clear, we formed line. Van Staden on the right, myself in the 

 middle, about thirty yards distant, and the Shangans in a bunch on the left. 

 We had advanced close up to the position of the still, when I saw the back of 

 the lion about ten yards in front of me. Though in a crouching attitude, there 

 was something about its pose that struck me as being unlike life. I accordingly 

 took a step to my right to obtain a better view, and a shot if necessary, when 

 half a dozen assegais came whizzing through the air, from the Shangans on my 

 left, accompanied by yells of joy and exultation. I now saw that the lion was 

 dead ; and, all coming up, we examined the destroyer of our peace. He was 

 a large, full-grown, and thick-set animal of i o feet from nose to tip of tail, and 

 was in splendid condition, being very fat. Like most South African lions, 

 however, he had a poor and scrubby mane. N'Dale quietly observed that he 



