ACROSS COUNTRY IN A CARRIAGE 321 
lion turned and swung along the brow of the hill; 
the others disappeared over the opposite side, but 
they soon reappeared some distance farther to the 
right. 
Little spurts of dirt showed where our bullets 
were striking. Once I kicked up the ground just 
under him and once a shot from Stephenson passed 
so close to his nose that he ducked his head angrily. 
We became frantic with eagerness and continued 
disappointment. The thought of losing the finest 
lion we had seen on the whole trip was maddening, 
yet it seemed impossible to hit him. 
Then he disappeared and probably rejoined his 
companions in a retreat that led down into the ra¬ 
vine where it wound far away from us. There were 
patches of reeds in the ravine and it was there that 
I thought they would hide. 
Sending the carriage in a wide detour, we 
climbed across a spur of the ravine and tried to pick 
up the trail. Once I fell upon the rocks that lined 
the steep sides of the gully and cut my hand so 
deeply that the scar will always remain as a re¬ 
minder of that eventful day. Stephenson kept to 
the top of the ridge, believing that the lions would 
continue across the ravine; I went into the ravine, 
thinking they would take cover in the reeds and 
might be scared out with a shot or two. 
But nothing could be seen of them, and after 
half an hour we rejoined on the top of the hill, 
where a wide view of the whole country was re¬ 
pealed. 
