TAITA TO KILIMA-JSJABO. 
73 
there was no need for hurry now that we were percep¬ 
tibly nearing our goal, I was sauntering along easily 
in advance of the caravan, when my servant Virapan 
tugged me by the shoulder, and said, u What is that 
big animal, sir ? ” 
I looked along the path in front, and saw, to my 
great astonishment, a lion quietly trotting ahead of 
us. As he heard the sound of a voice he uncon¬ 
cernedly looked round, gave us one penetrating glance, 
made a few hesitating steps, and then stopped to stare 
again. A mad impulse to fire seized me, and although 
my sporting gun was behind with the caravan, I took 
the Snider from my servant’s hands, aimed it hastily, 
and fired. No sooner had the smoke cleared away 
than I saw the lion bounding away in great leaps over 
the low bushes, evidently untouched by the bullet. 
He entered a dense mass of thorny acacias and there 
stopped. My head-collector coming up, we followed 
him to this refuge, and I can assure you I felt then 
anything but comfortable, for we could see, amid the 
thickly-interlaced twigs, literally nothing, while a deep 
ominous growling reached our ears, so strangely 
divested of <c localitv 55 that we could neither of us 
*/ 
determine the exact spot from which it proceeded. 
We now decided to withdraw with all due caution, and 
backed respectfully from the presence of the king of 
beasts till we had once more regained the road, where 
we found most of the carriers awaiting anxiously the 
result of our encounter. Disliking to be baffled, I 
proposed that we should organize a regular battue, 
and drive the lion from his shelter, but nobody liked 
the idea except my Indian servant, who was inadequate 
for the task, so I reluctantly abandoned what might 
have been a spirited lion hunt. Towards the afternoon 
