320 
THE NEW AFRICA 
dogs and guns, and soon returned with a yelping pack of hounds 
of all shapes, sizes, and conditions, with curly tails, or even none 
at all, as the case might be, and off we started to take up the 
track of the wounded lions. First we tackled my gentleman 
of the morning, who had gone about two miles, and then lain 
down to die in a thicket. He, however, still tried to show 
fight, though very weak. The dogs behaved splendidly, 
evidently accustomed to this kind of work, especially a wire- 
haired black bitch, weighing some eighty pounds or more, 
belonging to the Dutch hunter Jacobs, who, as before mentioned, 
was absent towards the Chobe. Whilst the other dogs bayed 
the lion in front she remained in the rear, and when the lion 
by a spring had cleared his assailants from in front of him for 
the moment, and attempted to charge, she fixed her sharp teeth 
in his flank with a vicious snap, and sprang away out of reach of 
his mighty claws as he pawed round at her. Yelling with all 
my power to the natives who were rushing up not to shoot for 
fear of riddling the skin, I managed to restrain them, and get¬ 
ting a shot at the lion’s neck laid him low, while the yelping 
pack jumped at him tearing, biting, and snarling as he rolled 
over. 
There was still the lion supposed to be wounded by the 
trap-gun and hidden in the bush to be accounted for. The 
excited dogs were taken back to the scene of the feast, and after 
searching about, they got a blood-scent, and went yelping off 
into the bush, and soon we heard by the increased c music ’ and 
low growling of a lion that the beast was at bay. Unfortunately 
I was somewhat behind in the chase, and several of the keenest 
hunters got there before me, and opened fire on the lioness, for 
such it proved to be, before I could stop them. Her shoulder 
had been badly broken by the trap gunshot, and though stiff 
she was in a furious rage, bounding at the dogs, who, however, 
managed to keep out of her way, ably seconded by the wire- 
haired bitch, who proved a perfect demon in the way she 
attacked the lion from behind at every opportunity. The 
fusilade of the hunters laid her low, and also hit one of the dogs 
