ssed him over its back.
Fortunately the brute fell dead after this final effort, leaving Rawson
grateful for his escape.

After abandoning the chase of my wildebeeste, we had not gone far on
our way towards the home camp when I thought I observed something of a
reddish colour moving in a patch of long grass, a good distance to our
left front. I asked Mahina if he could make out what it was, but he was
unable to do so, and before I could get my field-glasses to bear, the
animal, whatever it was, had disappeared into the grass. I kept my eye
on the spot, however, and we gradually approached it. When we were
about a hundred yards off, the reddish object again appeared; and I saw
that it was nothing less than the shaggy head of a lion peeping over
the long grass. This time Mahina also saw what it was, and called out,
"Dekko, Sahib, sher!" ("Look, Master, a lion!"). I whispered to him to
be quiet and to take no notice of him, while I tried my best to follow
my own advice. So we kept on, edging up towards the beast, but
apparently oblivious of his presence, as he lay there grimly watching
us. As we drew nearer, I asked Mahina in a whisper if he felt equal to
facing a charge from the sher if I should wound him. He answered simply
that where I went, there would he go also; and right well he kept his
word.

I watched the lion carefully out of the corner of my eye as we closed
in. Every now and then he would disappear from view for a moment; and
it was a fascinating sight to see how he slowly raised his massive head
above the top of the grass again and gazed calmly and steadily at us as
we neared him. Unfortunately I could not distinguish the outline of his
body, hidden as it was in the grassy thicket. I therefore circled
cautiously round in order to see if the cover was sufficiently thin at
the back to make a shoulder shot possible; but as we moved, the lion
also twisted round and so always kept his head full on us. When I had
described a half-circle, I found that the grass was no thinner and that
my chances of a shot had not improved. We were now within seventy yards
of the lion, who appeared to take the greater interest in us the closer
we approached. He had lost the sleepy look with which he had at first
regarded us, and was now fully on the alert; but still he did not give
me the impression that he meant to charge, and no doubt if we had not
provoked him, he would have allowed us to depart in peace. I, however,
was bent on