162 
THE LION. 
ger, but in vain this time, as my ball went too high- 
in short, right over the object aimed at. The animal, 
however, did not budge an inch, and I now saw 
clearly a lion before me. Rising to my feet, I shouted 
in order to drive him off; but he remained stationary. 
I did not at all like his appearance, and hastened at 
once back to my place of concealment to reload. 
When again quite ready, and on the look-out for 
him, I found that both he and his companions were 
gone. Almost immediately afterwards, however, 
two lions, which I imagined to be the same, ap¬ 
proached the water. Having drunk their fill they 
were about to retrace their steps, when suddenly 
(my person being purposely exposed to view), they 
espied 'me, and after eyeing me for a few seconds, 
one of them, the largest, made straight for my 
“screen.” This seemed strange; but to make 
sure of his intentions, I shouted louldly when 
the brute was within about forty yards of me. 
To my utter surprise, he, instead of moving 
off, came quickly on till at a distance of twenty- 
five paces, or thereabouts, when he suddenly 
couched, evidently preparing to spring on me. 
Dropping the double-barrelled gun, which I held in 
my hand at the moment, I seized the elephant rifle, 
levelled, took a very steady aim at his breast, 
and fired. The bullet sped true, and I thought I 
had killed him outright, as he rolled over and over 
on the ground several times; but not so, for, pre¬ 
sently, he scrambled up and decamped. However, 
I had no doubt in my own mind that the wound he 
had received would prove fatal. On receiving the 
