184 
THE LION. 
the poor animal that bore ns. Afterwards lie re¬ 
tired to a large thick bush, where, though we were 
certain he was concealed in it, he could not readily 
be seen. 
“ To look into this bush, it was necessary to 
get nearer to it, but it w T as with the greatest diffi¬ 
culty the elephant could be induced to approach it. 
At length, however, we got her (it was a female) to 
within ten or twelve yards of the bush, when the 
lion, before he could be viewed, again bounded forth, 
and the elephant swerving to one side, he formed a 
lodgment upon her croup, and wounded the un¬ 
fortunate creature very severely, coming also to 
tolerably close quarters with Woodhouse, who was 
seated in the hinder part of the ‘howdah.’ 
“ The lion again took refuge in a thicket, but as 
the elephant was now so dreadfully frightened that 
she would on no terms approach the spot where she 
knew the enemy to be, it became a matter of debate 
how the beast was next to be attacked ? Woodhouse 
proposed, and it was agreed to by Laing (who had 
now joined us) and myself, that we should proceed 
on foot. 
“All three, therefore, entered the thicket together, 
and crept under the bushes, the branches of which 
reached nearly to the ground, and when we got 
sight of the lion, fired several shots into him at from 
thirty to forty yards distance. Fortunately for us, 
in our cramped situation, he did not charge, but 
only answered each ball with a grunt, and at last 
retired before us, so that we again lost sight of him. 
“ Subsequently, after having for a long time 
