A WOUNDED LION 
73 
CH. Til] 
ever, saw the lion, loping along close behind some 
kongoni; and this enabled me to get up to him as 
quickly as the lighter men on the faster horses. The 
going was now slightly downhill, and the sorrel took me 
along very well, while Medlicott, whose horse was slow, 
bore to the right and joined the other two men. We 
gained rapidly, and, finding out this, the lion suddenly 
halted and came to bay in a slight hollow, where the 
grass was rather long. The plain seemed flat, and 
we could see the lion well from horseback; but, 
especially when he lay down, it was most difficult to 
make him out on foot, and impossible to do so when 
kneeling. 
We were about a hundred and fifty yards from the 
lion, Sir Alfred, Kermit, Medlicott, and Miss Pease off 
to one side, and slightly above him on the slope, while 
I was on the level, about equidistant from him and 
them. Kermit and I tried shooting from the horses, 
but at such a distance this was not effective. Then 
Kermit got off, but his horse would not let him shoot; 
and when I got off I could not make out the animal 
through the grass with sufficient distinctness to enable 
me to take aim. Old Ben the dog had arrived, and, 
barking loudly, was strolling about near 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 in¬ 
cludes rheumatism does not vault lightly into the 
