94 
IN AFRICA 
within forty yards of the lion that I could get a 
clear view of him. He was glaring at me, with tail 
waving angrily, and his mouth was opened in a 
savage snarl. I could see that he didn’t like me. 
I raised the little .256 Mannlicher, aimed care¬ 
fully at his open mouth and fired. The lion turned 
a back somersault and a great thrill of exultation 
suffused me. Already I saw the handsomely 
mounted lion-skin rug ornamenting my den at 
home. We approached cautiously, always remem¬ 
bering that the real danger of lion hunting comes 
after the lion has been shot. We threw stones in 
the grass where he had lain, but no answering growl 
was heard. I thought he was dead, but when we 
finally reached the spot where he had been there was 
no sign of him. He had vanished again. I searched 
the ravine and then crossed to the high grass on the 
other side. Then we saw him for an instant, half- 
concealed, just in front of us. His head was hang¬ 
ing, and he looked as though he had been hard hit. 
Again he disappeared and we searched high and 
low for him. For several hundred feet we beat the 
grass without result. 
Then the grass was again fired and again the 
hoarse growl came in angry protest. Walking 
slowly, with guns ready for instant use, we ad¬ 
vanced until we could see him under a tree seventy 
yards ahead on my side of the ravine. He was 
growling angrily. This time I used the double- 
barreled cordite rifle and the first shot struck him in 
the forehead without knocking him down. He 
