100 
THROUGH SOMALILAND AND ABYSSINIA ch. iv 
As we approached within two hundred and fifty yards there 
was a commotion in the grass — a fine black-maned lion sprang 
out, and was immediately followed by another, nearly as large, 
but with a yellow mane. They both stood up and looked back 
at us for a moment and then trotted away. We walked after 
them, hoping they would lie down again ; but as we passed to 
the right of the patch of grass where they had been lying, at 
about a hundred yards’ distance, I saw a lioness stretched out 
flat, with her head between her paws. She was facing us, and 
as we passed she rose for a moment, and then glanced towards 
the retreating lions, but crouched down again, her head just 
visible above the grass, and never ceased growling savagely. 
We went straight on at the same pace, till we were between her 
and the line of retreat. She was growling louder and louder, 
and I walked across her front to get a chance at her left shoulder, 
while E stood ready, when she rose, to fire at her chest. 
We stood seventy yards apart, the lioness being seventy yards 
from each of us, our three positions thus forming an equilateral 
triangle. The lioness moved, and E -, calling out that he 
could see her chest, immediately fired. 
The bullet hit her too high, and, as we afterwards found 
out, in the withers clear of the spine, the wound causing her 
to spin round like a top several times in a cloud of red dust, 
as if hunting her own tail, so that I could see nothing to fire 
at. From the disturbance in the grass and the savage growls, 
we decided she must be mortally hit, and were preparing to 
walk up to her, when suddenly from the obscuring dust she 
came out, charging for me at full speed. She ran extended 
along the ground, like a greyhound, and came so fast that I 
had only time to raise my rifle, and when the bead of the 
foresight was somewhere under her chin, I fired. Quickly 
shifting my finger to the left trigger when she was only 
five yards away, I pulled again, and then jumped to one 
side, the rifle still at my shoulder. I remember nothing more, 
except that her head came through the smoke and I was half 
conscious of being lifted off my feet and sent flying through 
the air, with the lioness hanging on to my shoulder, growling 
horribly ! 
On coming to, I found that I was standing up streaming 
with blood, and E and the two hunters were helping me off 
with my shirt, the lioness lying dead on the grass at my feet. 
There were eight deep fang wounds in my right arm and 
