A LION HUNT. 



211 



at the dangerous situation of his friend, hazarded a 

 shot, which obliged her to let go her hold. She 

 then turned and rushed towards Lieut. S., who 

 coolly suffered her to advance within a few yards, 

 when he fired and struck her in the breast. This 

 had the effect of forcing her to retreat, when she was 

 pursued and ultimately killed. 



The following interesting descriptions of this 

 perilous amusement has recently been written by 

 an officer, who was engaged with a party during the 

 month of March, 1833, in a similar excursion in 

 the vicinity of this very mountain : and succeeded in 

 destroying three of these noble animals. 



" We resolved to descend to the valley, where 



there was a large pool of water, and unsaddle our 



horses for half an hour. As we moved on for this 



purpose in no very compact order, happening to drop 



behind, I observed two of the Hottentots riding in the 



rear alongside of each other, conversing in a whisper, 



and with their eyes steadily fixed on some distant 



point in the hollow below. After a long, silent, and 



intent gaze, their eyes met, as they simultaneously 



looked up as if to read each other's thoughts, and one 



said in a low, cautious tone in Dutch, ' They are lions.' 



The other thought them too dark, and both renewed 



their earnest scrutiny of the suspected objects with 



greater eagerness, and soon with symptoms (but in 



silence) of mutual understanding. 



" Riding up to Major G, I informed him that the 



P 2 



