2IO Seven Years in Central Africa. [May, 
seriously. All night we were kept awake more or less by three 
lions serenading us, and the lads had enough to do to keep their 
bivouac fires burning. I, however, got a good night's rest. Next 
morning when passing through a clump of long reedy grass I 
heard distinctly in fi-ont the low angry growl of a lion. The man 
who was before me stopped, saying it was a buffalo, and asked 
for my gun that he might shoot it. I urged him to push on, 
and tried to prevent the three boys from stopping, but it was too 
late to avoid the brute's charge. He made straight at the hind- 
most lad, who was carrying my mat and blanket. I ran back 
and succeeded in intercepting him, so that in his spring he fell 
short a few feet from his intended victim, and before my very 
face — too near indeed to allow me time to use my rifle. The 
man and the three lads dropped their loads, and were off like 
deer, leaving me and my royal friend alone in the reed thicket 
face to face.* For a moment it was a question what the next scene 
would be. He was raging fiercely, and would fain have sprung 
on me, but seemed to lack the nerve. Holding him hard with 
my eyes, and slowly cocking my rifle, I lifted it to my shoulder 
for a steady aim, when he suddenly gave in, his huge tail dropped, 
and drawing his teeth under his lips he made off. I sprang after 
him, hoping to get a shot at safer range, but the grass was so 
dense that I could not sight him again ; so I started in search of 
my companions. I overtook Dick several hundred yards on by 
the river's brink, and then the others, but not one would return for 
his load, so complete was their scare, although I assured them 
that the lion had gone clean away. That, however, was no 
assurance to them that his wife or some of his relatives might 
not be hanging about the same lair. Shortly after we met some 
men returning from their fishing grounds, who were willing for a 
small consideration to return for the loads with my brave crew. 
Daniel's God is still the same to us. What I had mentioned in 
a previous letter recurred most forcibly — that all God has been to 
His people in ages past, and all He has promised to be through- 
out eternity, He now is to us — "This God is our God." 
The lad whose life I thus saved belongs to Bihe, and I over- 
heard a young Bihean say to his fellows, he would " go anywhere 
* A friend has endeavoured to represent this incident. The tent-like 
structure is one of the ant-hills, which are very large in Africa. 
