VIII 



TRAVELS IN EASTERN AFRICA 



345 



to pass through the only means of egress, which I, with 

 my Winchester, was perfectly capable of holding. 



After my men left me, I experienced a feeling of 

 intensest lonehness, and my mind filled with a variety 

 of anxious thoughts : first, for the men we had been 

 forced to leave behind, who were so keenly suffering 

 from thirst ; next, of the possibility that my people, who 

 had gone in search of water, might fall into the hands 

 of enemies ; then, of my personal safety, for I knew 

 the spot was frequented by lions. My nerves were 

 stretched to the utmost tension. I sat down, placed 

 my back against the steep surface of a rock, and alter- 

 nately gazed into the dark shadows which surrounded 

 me, and the vast amphitheatre stretched at my feet. 



I sat thus occupied for perhaps a quarter of an hour, 

 when I heard the well-known grumble of a lion in 

 search of prey. It is only in a menagerie that the 

 " king of beasts " expresses his hunger by means of 

 roars. When in a state of nature, where the gratifica- 

 tion of appetite is more dependent upon the degree 

 of silence and skill with which prey is approached, the 

 lion exercises greater self-control, but, fortunately, at 

 no time sufiicient to conceal his whereabouts. Instead 

 of roars, he then gives vent to full-lunged, guttural sighs, 

 which are emitted, not in rapid succession, but with 

 sufficient pause between each to render their beginnings 

 and endings remarkably distinct and effective. 



The noise of the footsteps of my men, as they de- 

 scended the stony path leading to the bottom of the 

 crater, satisfied, while it lasted, whatever curiosity my 

 sense of hearing aroused. But, when I could no longer 

 distinguish the noise of falling stones, and the groans 



