w my Tokrooris faltering about five yards behind me. I
looked daggers at them, gnashing my teeth and shaking my fist. They saw
the lion, and Taher Noor snatching a rifle from Hadji Ali was just about
to bring it; when Hassan, ashamed, ran forward. The lion disappeared
at the same moment. Never was such a fine chance lost through
the indecision of the gun bearers! I made a vow never to carry a
single-barrelled rifle again when hunting large game. If I had had my
dear little Fletcher 24 1 should have nailed the lion to a certainty.

However, there was not much time for reflection. Where was the first
lion? Some remains of the buffalo lay upon my right, and I expected to
find the lion most probably crouching in the thorns somewhere near us.
Having reloaded, I took one of my Reilly No. 10 rifles and listened
attentively for a sound. Presently I heard within a few yards a low
growl. Taher Noor drew his sword and, with his shield before him, he
searched for the lion, while I crept forward toward the sound, which was
again repeated. A low roar, accompanied by a rush in the jungle, showed
us a glimpse of the lion as he bounded off within ten or twelve yards;
but I had no chance to fire. Again the low growl was repeated, and upon
quietly creeping toward the spot I saw a splendid animal crouched upon
the ground amid the withered and broken grass. The lioness lay dying
with the bullet wound in the shoulder. Occasionally in her rage she bit
her own paw violently, and then struck and clawed the ground. A pool of
blood lay by her side. She was about ten yards from us, and I instructed
my men to throw a clod of earth at her (there were no stones), to prove
whether she could rise, while I stood ready with the rifle. She merely
replied with a dull roar, and I terminated her misery by a ball through
the head. She was a beautiful animal. The patch of the bullet was
sticking in the wound. She was shot through both shoulders, and as we
were not far from the tent I determined to have her brought to camp
upon a camel as an offering to my wife. Accordingly I left my Tokrooris,
while I went with Taher Noor to fetch a camel.

On our road through the thick jungle I was startled by a rush close
to me. For the moment I thought it was a lion, but almost at the same
instant I saw a fine nellut dashing away before me, and I killed it
immediately with a bullet through the back of the neck. This was great
luck, and we now required two camels, as in two