LIONS AGAIN. 
117 
and quietly, the night being very dark, and actually 
tried to claw the meat down from the tree close to me. 
I was sitting cross-legged, with my double rifle across 
my knees, expecting every moment to see his outline 
between me and the fire, where my lads were, as I 
thought, asleep; the brute actually stumbled over 
the tent ropes at the back, which were pegged down 
some six yards behind, causing a jar through the 
tent. Just at this critical moment something burst 
through the opening into my tent, quick as thought, 
and fell at my feet, and I was within an ace of shoot¬ 
ing my two Kaffir boys, who had been awake all the 
time, lying as still as dormice, but could stand it no 
longer. I expected every moment the lion would 
have sprung on old Dancer, who remained perfectly 
passive, but after in vain trying to claw the meat 
down again he left us. On getting up in the morn¬ 
ing I saw some six or seven different varieties of 
game; I hardly knew which kind to hunt, but gave 
the koodoos the preference. 
8th .—A long, heavy walk, through vleys and 
water and foot-paths running down with wet, brought 
us to the first Amatonga kraals, the most wretched 
habitations imaginable. The poor fellows were all 
but starving; they had nothing to live on but wild 
figs, Kaffir oranges, and other fruit of the kind. 
9 tli {Sunday ).—Another wet and miserable day, my 
clothes, blankets, &c. all damp and unwholesome. 
1(M.—To-day we had a long tramp through the 
bush. I wounded an inyala doe, and had a long 
