78 
AFRICAN GAME TRAILS 
me, as it crept cautiously among the rocks on the steep 
hillside, a hundred and fifty yards away. At first I could 
not see it; finally I thought I did and fired, but, as it proved, 
at a place just above him. However, it made him start up, 
and I immediately put the next bullet behind his shoulders; 
it was a fatal shot; but, growling, he struggled down the 
hill, and I fired again and killed him. It was not much 
of a trophy, however, turning out to be a half-grown male. 
We lunched under a tree, and then arranged for an¬ 
other beat. There was a long, wide valley, or rather a slight 
depression in the ground—for it was only three or four feet 
below the general level—in which the grass grew tall, as 
the soil was quite wet. It was the scene of Percival’s ad¬ 
venture with the lion that chased him. Hill and I stationed 
ourselves on one side of this valley or depression, toward the 
upper end; Pease took Kermit to the opposite side; and 
we waited, our horses some distance behind us. The 
beaters were put in at the lower end, formed a line across 
the valley, and beat slowly toward us, making a great noise. 
They were still some distance away when Hill saw 
three lions, which had slunk stealthily off ahead of them 
through the grass. I have called the grass tall, but this was 
only by comparison with the short grass of the dry plains. 
In the depression or valley it was some three feet high. In 
such grass a lion, which is marvellously adept at hiding, 
can easily conceal itself, not merely when lying down, but 
when advancing at a crouching gait. If it stands erect, how¬ 
ever, it can be seen. 
There were two lions near us, one directly in our front, 
a hundred and ten yards off. Some seconds passed before 
Hill could make me realize that the dim yellow smear in 
