86 
THE LION. 
friend pulled the trigger, upon which the beast gave 
a tremendous bound, actually clearing a portion of 
the water by which he was lying, followed by a terrific 
growling and snarling. Bonfield called out, “ The 
lion is struck !” but Green hardly thought so, as 
his aim could not have been very accurate. 
Shortly afterwards they returned to camp ; but, 
scarcely had they reached it before the dogs began 
to bark most furiously; and next morning, as seen 
by the tracks, it was found to have been a lion 
which they had challenged. The brute, it seemed, 
had actually followed their 6 spoor 5 from the screen. 
Green at first thought it must have been their 
late enemy; but, on returning to the cc vley,” they 
found distinct traces of a second lion. It, more¬ 
over, turned out that Bonfield was right when he 
asserted that the one at which Green had fired was 
struck; for they not only found blood on the ground, 
but pieces of the beast’s fangs and jawbone. An inch or 
two higher or lower would probably have killed him. 
Again, the lioness, when accompanied by her 
progeny, and when danger threatens, is said not 
unfrequently to resort to very cunning expedients 
to insure their safety, of which Gerard relates a 
somewhat remarkable instance. 
“ During the month of November, 1846,” he 
says, “ it was reported to me that a lion had killed 
a horse at the bottom of a deep ravine; but, on 
examining the tracks of the animal, I came to the 
conclusion that it must have been a lioness. I 
watched at the foot of a mastic tree. 
“ The first night nothing; the second night 
