246 
ON SAFARI 
pelled by the grand reverberating roar of a lion, followed 
by a whinnying response—both apparently close on our 
front, though really 250 yards ahead. At this crucial 
moment, as chance had fixed it, W-, misjudging the 
distance, and assuming that we were already on top of 
the lions, pressed forward “ to walk them up ” on his 
own. Nothing we could do availed to check that im¬ 
petuous fatality. Yama implored me, “ Stop your 
brother—stop—not that way—stalk.” It was in vain ; 
signals, whistles, all ignored, it only remained to us to 
follow on through grass not three feet high. At a long 
100 yards the lion stood up, gazed, and turned away. 
W-fired, and I then saw the flat head of a lioness 
appear above the grass. At my first shot she rushed to 
right; at the second stopped dead, turned and bolted back. 
AY- shouted that both were down; but that, I knew, 
was not the case; and, on running forward, I got a 
clear view of the lion, a magnificent heavily-maned beast, 
walking majestically with long-swinging stride beyond 
the river, 500 yards away. Against the low-rising sun he 
stood out dark, silhouetted as a daguerreotype, his mane 
all rough and “ touzley,” and he walked quite slowly and 
unconcerned. There was still a chance to shoot—fair, 
though remote—but so entranced was I with that rare 
spectacle, that the rifle was forgotten. 
It was over—the best chance we had at lion thrown 
away. My brother, usually most cautious and pains¬ 
taking, agrees with the facts as above set out, but con¬ 
siders Ali more to blame in misjudging the distance—it 
was kismet, predestined. As Yama insisted, we might, 
by a careful stalk, have crept in as near as we cared. 
Of course we took the spoor of both lions, assuring 
ourselves that neither had been hit. Not a vestige of 
the hartebeests remained beyond the vertebrae and some 
big bones. 
On the camp ward way we sighted a single oryx (the 
first of the callotis kind that I had seen) in company 
with hundreds of kongoni. I took the stalk, but failed to 
approach within 500 yards. At that distance, through 
