THE LION. 
125 
to insure tlie destruction of this ravenous monster. This plan was to enter the dense kloof on 
foot, without dogs, and to endeavor by fair stalking to obtain his shot at the Lion. 
“Now, when we consider the difficulty of moving through any cover without making a 
noise, and also the watchful habits of every member of the feline race, we may be certain that 
to surprise the Lion was a matter of extreme difficulty, and that the probability was that the 
Dutchman would meet with a disaster. 
“At about ten o’clock on the morning after the horse slaughter, the Boer started for the 
kloof, armed with a double-barrelled smooth bore, and clothed in the most approved bush 
costume. He would not allow his faithful Hottentot to accompany him, because, as success 
mainly depended upon surprise, he considered that the highly flavored Totty might be scented 
by the Lion ; whereas he alone would be more likely to escape detection. By this arrange- 
ment the Boer demonstrated the truth of the proverb with reference to the pot and the kettle, 
for the Dutchmen are not fonder of lavations than their Hottentot servants, and it is probable 
that, although a wide-awake Lion might have scented the Totty at 600 yards down wind, he 
would have discovered the Boer under similar conditions at 400 yards. We must, however, 
take the Boer’s reason as a just one, and conclude that to leave his Totty at home was a wise 
precaution. 
“On the first occasion, when the Lion was attacked by the Boer, it had been bayed by 
the dogs near some tall trees, far down in the kloof. If the animal had again selected the 
same location, the Boer would have had to creep through two or three hundred yards of 
thorny bush, and he would probably have alarmed the Lion long before he arrived within shot. 
He had thought over this, and had concluded that after dragging the carcass of the horse all 
the way from the. farm, the Lion would not be disposed to drag it very far through the under- 
wood in the kloof, and that, therefore, he should find the carcass of the horse at least at no 
great distance from the edge of the ravine, and probably the Lion close to it. 
“Now it is the nature of the Lion, when gorged, to sleep during the day; and if the 
animal has carried off any prey, it usually conceals itself near the remains to watch them until 
it is ready for another feast. 
“ The Boer was aware of all this, and had laid his plans very judiciously. He approached 
the kloof slowly and silently, hit off the spoor of the Lion, and traced the spot where the 
horse had been allowed to remain on the ground for a short time. 
“Although he moved onwards very slowly and with great caution, he was soon surrounded 
by the bush ; and the brightness of the plain was succeeded by the gloom of the kloof. Being 
a most experienced hand at bushcraft, he was enabled to walk or crawl without causing either 
a dried stick to crack or a leaf to rustle, and he was aware that his progress had been accom- 
plished without noise ; for the small birds, usually so watchful and so much on the alert, flew 
away only when he approached close to them, thus showing that their eyes and not their ears 
had made them conscious of the presence of man’. 
“Birds and monkeys are the great obstacles in the bush to the success of a surprise, for 
the birds fly from tree to tree, and whistle or twitter, whilst the monkeys chatter and grimace, 
and express, by all sorts of harlequin movements, that some curious creature is approaching. 
When, therefore, the bushranger finds that birds and monkeys are unconscious of his presence 
until they see him, he may be satisfied that he has traversed the bush with tolerable silence, 
and has vanquished such formidable obstacles as sticks hidden by leaves, broken and dead 
branches, etc. 
“ There is a vast difference between hearing or reading how any dangerous work has been 
accomplished, and doing that work itself. But we can, by imagining ourselves in the position 
of the performer, realize in a measure the sort of sensations which he must have experienced, 
and we can then weigh the effect which the circumstance would have produced upon our own 
moderately strong nerves. It is highly probable that those who sigh for new sensations, might 
possibly find them were they to enter a dense bush on foot, and expect momentarily to meet, 
within speaking distance, a Lion of capacious maw, or a long-tusked, heavy-footed elephant, 
or even such a moderate opponent as a bull buffalo. 
“The effect produced upon the system is much decreased when many individuals are 
