40 
LION-HUNTING ON THE KAPITI PLAINS 
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, nearly 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 dis¬ 
tinctness 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 be¬ 
hind 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 
One of the native beaters and gun-bearers . 1 
From a photograph by Edmund Heller tW0 COmpaillOnS Settled 
