LION HUNTING ON THE KAPITI PLAINS 75 
the lion, which paid him not the slightest attention. At 
this moment my black sais, Simba, came running up to me 
and took hold of the bridle; he had seen the chase from 
the line of march and had cut across to join me. There 
was no other sais or gun-bearer anywhere near, and his 
action was plucky, for he was the only man afoot, with the 
lion at bay. Lady Pease had also ridden up and was an 
interested spectator only some fifty yards behind me. 
Now, an elderly man with a varied past which includes 
rheumatism does not vault lightly into the saddle; as his 
sons, for instance, can; and I had already made up my 
mind that in the event of the lion’s charging it would be 
wise for me to trust to straight powder rather than to try to 
scramble into the saddle and get under way in time. The 
arrival of my two companions settled matters. I was not 
sure of the speed of Lady Pease’s horse; and Simba was on 
foot and it was of course out of the question for me to leave 
him. So I said, ‘‘Good, Simba, now we’ll see this thing 
through,” and gentle-mannered Simba smiled a shy ap¬ 
preciation of my tone, though he could not understand 
the words. I was still unable to see the lion when I knelt, 
but he was now standing up, looking first at one group of 
horses and then at the other, his tail lashing to and fro, his 
head held low, and his lips dropped over his mouth in 
peculiar fashion, while his harsh and savage growling 
rolled thunderously over the plain. Seeing Simba and me 
on foot, he turned toward us, his tail lashing quicker and 
quicker. Resting my elbow on Simba’s bent shoulder, I 
took steady aim and pressed the trigger; the bullet went 
in between the neck and shoulder, and the lion fell over 
on his side, one foreleg in the air. He recovered in a moment 
