IX 
THE LION 
317 
There could be little doubt that the wounded buffalo 
had been attacked; therefore, with proper precaution, 
they warily approached the spot, until the exciting 
scene presented itself suddenly on the other side of 
a large fallen tree, which happily concealed the 
approach of the two companions. 
Three lions were engaged in a life-and-death 
combat with the gallant old bull, who made a 
desperate defence, first knocking over one of his 
enemies, then boring another to the ground, and 
exhibiting a strength which appeared sufficient to 
defeat the combination. Suddenly the buffalo fell 
dead; this was the result of the original wound, as 
the rifle bullet had passed through the lungs. 
The lions were not aware of this, and a quarrel 
among themselves commenced after their imagined 
victory. One huge beast reared to half its full 
height and placed its fore paws upon the body of 
the prostrate buffalo, while at the head and the hind¬ 
quarters an angry lion clutched the dead body in its 
spreading paws, and growled at the possessor of 
the centre. This formed a grand picture within 
only a few yards’ distance, but a couple of shots from 
either rifle stretched two lions rolling upon the 
ground, and the third, terrified at the unexpected 
reports, bounded into the thick covert and dis¬ 
appeared. 
A very good sportsman named Johann Schmidt, 
a Bavarian who died in my service when in Africa, 
killed two lions in the act of attacking a giraffe. I 
saw the skeletons of these animals in the bed of the 
