232 
THE LION. 
My road, for the most part, lay through a dense 
tamarisk coppice, and it was surprising to me how 
I ever managed to thread the labyrinth. The hope 
of saving human life, however, enabled me to over¬ 
come all obstacles. I might have been three or 
four minutes in the brake, when, on coming to a 
small opening, I suddenly encountered, and all but 
stumbled over, a large black mass lying at my feet; 
whilst, close to my ear, I heard the twang of a 
bow-string, and the whizzing of an arrow. At the 
same moment, and within a very few paces of where 
I stood, I was startled by the terrific roar of a lion, 
which seemed to shake the ground beneath me. 
This was immediately followed by a savage and 
exulting cry of triumph from a number of the na¬ 
tives. 
Having recovered from my surprise, I found that 
the dark object that had nearly upset me was one 
of the natives stooping over a dead zebra, which 
the lion had just killed, and I then learnt, for the 
first time, to my great astonishment as well as re¬ 
lief, that the wailings which had caused me so much 
uneasiness, and which I imagined were those of a 
dying man, had proceeded from this poor animal. 
The design of the natives, who, from the first, 
I take it, well knew what they were about, was 
simply to possess themselves of the zebra, in which 
they had fully succeeded. Whilst some busied them¬ 
selves in lighting a fire, the rest joined in a sort of 
war-dance round the carcase, accompanied by the 
most wild and fantastic gestures, totally disregard¬ 
ing the' proximity of the lion, who had only re- 
