SINGULAR EXPEDIENT. 
145 
herd, whose lives are held of no account whatever, 
invariably ensued. Armed only with the assegai and 
shield, these men rush on the marauder, and should 
they prove the victors, they retire from the conflict, 
bearing the head and feet of the lion to their royal 
master. These are left to decompose within the 
fence of the imperial kraal, which, as I have already 
explained, is strewed with the bones of wild 
animals.” 
Elsewhere the gallant officer tells us :— 46 No one 
dare present himself before this dreaded ruler who 
has been wounded in an ignoble part in battle, or 
who has failed in his duty to the very letter.” 
Again, the Bushmen, when they wish to be quit 
of the lion—which is not alwavs the case, as on the 
remains of his victims they in certain districts 
depend in some measure for their food—resort to a 
singular expedient to attain their ends. 
“ It has been remarked by these men,” says Dr. 
Phillips, the Missionary, ec that the lion generally 
kills and devours his prey either at an early hour in 
the morning or at sunset. When, therefore, they 
purpose slaying the beast, they notice at sun-rise 
where the springboks are grazing, and if they then 
appear alarmed and run off, they conclude the 
animals have been attacked by the lion. Marking 
accurately the spot where the alarm took place* 
they, about eleven o’clock of the day, when the sun is 
powerful, and the enemy they seek is supposed to be 
fast asleep, carefully examine the ground, and finding 
the beast in a state of unguarded security, they 
lodge a poisoned arrow in his breast. The moment 
L 
