in spite of
the risk I would not have missed it for the world; so, taking as steady
an aim as was possible in the circumstances, I pulled the trigger.
Instantly the shaggy head disappeared from view, and such a succession
of angry roars and growls came up out of the bushes that I was fairly
startled, and felt keenly anxious to finish him off before he could
charge out and cover the short distance which separated us. I therefore
fired half a dozen shots into the bushes at the spot where I imagined
he lay, and soon the growling and commotion ceased, and all was still.
I was confident the brute was dead, so I called up one of the men to
stay and watch the place, while I again rushed off at full
speed--jumping over such rocks and bushes as came in my way--to have a
shot at a lioness that was still in sight.

By this time my followers numbered about thirty men, as when one is
hunting in these plains natives seem to spring from nowhere in the most
mysterious manner, and attach themselves to one in the hope of
obtaining same portion of the kill. By signal I ordered them to advance
in line on the thicket in which the lioness had just taken refuge,
while I took up my position on one side, so as to obtain a good shot
when she broke covert. The line of natives shouting their native cries
and striking their spears together soon disturbed her, and out she
sprang into the open, making for a clump of rushes close to the river.
Unfortunately she broke out at the most unfavourable spot from my point
of view, as some of the natives masked my fire, and I had consequently
to wait until she got almost to the edge of the rushes. Whether or not
I hit her then I cannot say; at any rate, she made good her escape into
the reeds, where I decided to leave her until Brock should arrive.

I now retraced my steps towards the spot where I had shot the lion,
expecting, of course, to find the man I had told to watch him still on
guard. To my intense vexation, however, I found that my sentry had
deserted his post and had joined the other men of the party, having
become frightened when left by himself. The result of his disobedience
was that now I could not tell where lay the dead lion--or, rather, the
lion which I believed to be dead; but I had no intention of losing so
fine a trophy, so I began a systematic search, dividing the jungle into
strips, and thus going over the whole place thoroughly. The task of
finding him, however, was not so easy as might