156 
CHAPTER X. 
SHOOTING THE LION BY NIGHT—A NOT VERY ENVIABLE SITUA¬ 
TION—PERILOUS POSITION—THE WOUNDED LION—EXCITING 
HUNTING SCENE—NIGHT-SHOOTING—GORDON CUMMING’S EXPE¬ 
RIENCES—THE LION IN THE DARK—LIONS WATERING—THE 
MELBODA-ARAB LION HUNTERS—THE SPRING-GUN—THE PITFALL. 
B ESIDES openly attacking the lion by day, the 
colonists and others not unfrequently shoot 
him during the night season, either whilst devouring 
the remains of a deer or other animal that he him¬ 
self has slain, or the carcass of one laid out in the 
wilderness to decoy him, or it may be at the fountain 
when he repairs to it to quench his thirst. 
I myself have had more than one adventure with 
lions when watching during the hours of darkness 
in my “ screen,” (of a similar nature to that de¬ 
scribed in a note at page 84) for elephants and other 
large game. 
On one occasion, I must confess to having felt 
rather uncomfortable. I had posted myself in a 
dense mimosa brake, commanding the approach to 
a certain river at a point much frequented by wild 
animals and flanked by an immense pit-fall. The 
darkness was deepened by surrounding thick foliage 
and high river-banks. Indeed, so black was the 
night that I could not discern even the muzzle of 
