366 
THE NEW AFRICA 
great distress. We were not afraid of their being attacked 
by lions at that distance from the fires, for there was little 
fear that even these beasts would face the swarms of mos¬ 
quitoes. 
Hammar and Steele at last crawled under their nets; but 
the last state was nearly as bad as the first, for multitudes of 
mosquitoes had got in with them, and they spent the greater 
part of the night in destroying these by catching them in 
their hands, and expressing great wonder that a wise Creator 
could permit the existence of such pests. 
I lay quietly, well protected from all molestation by my 
square net with its linen top, in a certain sense enjoying the 
situation, with that evil spirit of rejoicing in others’ woes inherent 
in the instincts of all humanity when safe itself. When the 
much wished for daylight came at last the mosquitoes retired, 
and we lost no time in getting on the road, for we had yet 
to travel several days along the Zouga, with the prospect of 
this experience being repeated nightly until we were well clear 
of the river. 
The previous evening, while we were trekking merrily along 
in the bright moonlight before camping, singing a chorus song 
to while away the tedium of travel, I was sitting inside the 
cart for a short rest, and Hammar and Steele were tramping 
along behind, when suddenly Franz, who was driving the oxen, 
yelled out in great consternation: ‘ Baas, baas, here comes a lion 
full tilt at the cart.’ We were crossing a bare hard sandy flat 
at the time, from which the retiring waters of the Zouga had 
just receded, leaving a damp level open space that glittered 
in the moonlight, exposing every small object with perfect 
clearness to view. Hammar and Steele shouted to me for their 
guns, which I hastily handed out to them from the cart, and 
seizing my own rifle, I jumped down to see where the lion was. 
Paul, who was voorlooping (leading the oxen) abandoned his 
position, and took up a more secure one between the wheels of 
the cart, while Franz dived into its inner recesses amongst 
our blankets, and the scared oxen, coming round with a 
