338 
IN AFRICA 
At about this time another lion came out of the 
swamp behind and loped up the hill. The saises 
were sent galloping after it to round it up, but they 
reappeared after a few moments and reported that 
it had got away in the direction of a huge swamp 
a mile or so beyond. We began to think we had 
struck a nest of lions. 
Then we went in to drive out that lion in the 
deep grass. The native beaters, encouraged by see¬ 
ing armed white men leading the way, came along 
with renewed enthusiasm. That grass was some¬ 
thing terrible. One would hardly care to go 
through it if he knew that a bag of gold or a fairy 
princess awaited him beyond; with a lion there, the 
delight of the job became immeasurably less. We 
could not see three feet ahead. From time to time 
we were floundering down into channels of water 
hidden by the density of the grass. Some of these 
channels were two feet deep. And with each yard 
of advance came the realization that we were com¬ 
ing to an inevitable show-down with that lion. 
Akeley and T were in with the beaters, Stephenson 
was beyond the patch of grass to intercept the lion 
should it break forth from cover. 
It was not until we had nearly traversed the en¬ 
tire patch of reeds that the lion was found. It evi¬ 
dently lay silently ahead of us until we were almost 
upon it. Then, almost beneath my feet, came the 
angry and ominous growl, and my Somali gun- 
bearer leaped in terror, falling as he did so. I ex¬ 
pected to see a long, lean flash of yellow body and 
