PERILS OF LI OX-HUNTING. 
221 
which he immediately gave chase, and the whole of 
which he rode down and shot in succession in the 
course of the day. But the immense exertion was 
too much for the gallant creature, whose life was 
thus sacrificed. 
This remarkable horse was well known through¬ 
out Great Namaqua-land, and is said to have been 
quite mad with excitement when he observed a wild 
animal; and he only ceased to pursue when the game 
was either killed or no longer in sight. 
Another matter in lion-shooting, not exactly 
a safeguard, it is true, but one that the sportsman 
should bear in mind is, that if there be several in 
company and the lion charges, while his com¬ 
panions take to their.heels, the best plan is to stand 
stock-still; in which case it is confidently asserted 
that the beast, nine times out of ten, will pursue the 
runaways in preference to the man who looks him 
boldly in the face. 
But even with every precaution, and under the 
most favourable circumstances, the danger of lion¬ 
hunting, it must be acknowledged, is considerable, 
and few of those who have engaged to any extent in 
this exciting amusement have come off altogether 
unscathed. The perils attendant on it are fully 
appreciated by Gordon Gumming, in the truth of 
whose observations I fully concur. He says :— 
“ A recklessness of life, perfect coolness and self- 
possession, an acquaintance with the disposition and 
manners of lions, and a tolerable knowledge of the 
use of the rifle, are indispensable to him who would 
strive in the overpoweringly-exciting pastime of 
