76 
THE LION. 
in the act of springing on him, and pulled, the 
trigger; but at the instant the hunter fired, his 
horse, whose bridle was round his arm, started 
back, and caused him to miss his aim. The lion 
bounded forward, but stopped within a few paces, 
confronting Diedrich, who stood defenceless, his 
gun discharged, and his horse running away. The 
man and the beast stood for a short time looking 
each other in the face. At length the lion moved 
backwards, as if to go away. Diedrich began to 
reload his gun; the lion, looking over his shoulder, 
growled and returned. Diedrich stood still. The 
lion again moved cautiously off, and the Boer pro¬ 
ceeded to ram down the bullet. The lion once 
more looked back and growled angrily; and this 
occurred repeatedly, until the animal had got to 
some distance, when he took fairly to his heels, 
and bounded away. 
There can be no doubt that in this instance 
the resolution of Diedrich saved his life; for had he 
exhibited the least sign of fear, or given way an 
inch, the savage beast would have instantly sprung 
on him, and torn him to pieces. 
The encounter of Gert Schepers, a Boer of the 
Oradock district, with a lion had, however, a less- 
fortunate result. Gert was out hunting with a 
neighbour, and coming to a fountain surrounded 
with high reeds, he handed his gun to his comrade 
whilst he proceeded in search of water, but he had 
no sooner approached the pool than an enormous 
lion sprang up close to his side and seized him by 
the left arm. The man, thus taken by surprise, 
