the glen, so that the lion was between two
fires; he became confused, we battered away at him, and he fell, pierced
with many wounds. He appeared to be full grown, and six years old,
measuring eleven feet from the nose to the tip of the tail. His fore
leg, below the knee, was so thick, that I could not span it with both
hands; his head was almost as large as that of an ordinary ox. His
flesh, which I had the curiosity to taste, resembled very white, coarse
beef, and was insipid rather than disagreeable."

The ensuing histories are from Mr. Gordon Cumming's pen;--"A buffalo was
wounded, and two hunters in pursuit of him were joined by three lions,
who also gave chase, and getting before the gentlemen sprang upon the
buffalo. The latter, being very large, struggled much; the hunters fired
upon the lions, and as each ball struck, the latter seemed to think the
blood which flowed came from the buffalo's bones; consequently, two were
easily secured, but the third had the sense to walk away.

"The Oryx sometimes fights the lion, and is victorious; but the bodies
have been seen lying close together, the lion having been pierced
through by the horns of the gemsbok, and as he could not draw them out
again, each died from the mortal blow inflicted by, at least, one of
them.

"Hendrick and Ruyter lay on one side of the fire under one blanket, and
John Stefolus on the other; the fire was very small, and the night was
pitch dark and windy. Suddenly the appalling and murderous voice of an
angry, blood-thirsty lion burst upon my ear, within a few yards of us,
followed by the shrieking of the Hottentots. Again and again the
terrific roar of attack was repeated. We heard John and Ruyter shriek,
'The lion! the lion!' Still, for a few minutes, all thought he was only
chasing one of the dogs round the kraal; but the next instant John
Stefolus rushed into the midst of us almost speechless with fear, his
eyes bursting from their sockets, and shrieked out, 'The lion! the lion!
he has got Hendrick; he dragged him away from the fire; I struck him
with the burning brand upon his head, but he would not let go his hold.
Hendrick is dead! Let us take fire and look for him!' The rest of my
people rushed about, shrieking and yelling as if they were mad. I was
angry with them for their folly, and told them if they did not stand
still and keep quiet, the lion would have another of us; most likely
there was a troop of them. The dogs were let loose, an