158 Wanderings in Eastern Africa. 
done to the lions by such a weapon, we might just as 
well have used a pea-shooter. However the firing 
had the desired effect, for the brutes took their de- 
parture, leaving us to congratulate ourselves that no 
greater harm had been done to us than a shock to 
our nerves. Yet how much better this narrative 
would have read if some of our bones had been 
crunched, or the lions had been slain ! But we are 
pledged not to exaggerate. 
We must now conclude this chapter. We have 
tried to give a sketch of mission life at Ribe, with its 
lights and shades, its comforts and discomforts, its 
labours, dangers, and adventures. There is nothing 
in such a life to be desired for its own sake ; on the 
other hand, it is dull, unromantic, forbidding. It has 
no attractions for us, except those which are con- 
nected with the great work in which we have been 
engaged. For the sake of that work we have borne 
all, and are ready to do it again. 
We have not a great deal to show as the results 
of our labours yet, but sufficient has been accom- 
plished to give us the utmost confidence in the ulti- 
mate result of vigorous and persevering endeavour. 
Taking leave of Ribe, we now proceed to other 
scenes. 
I 
