l, the Kaffirs alone of the party occasionally stopping in their
eating to listen, and to watch the neighbouring bush.

The sun had set about three hours, and the moon, a few days past the
full, had risen; whilst the Boers, having finished their meal, were
rolled up in their sheepskin carosses, and sleeping on the ground as
calmly as though they were each in a comfortable bed. The Kaffirs,
however, were still quietly but steadily eating, and conversing in a low
tone, scarcely above a whisper.

"The lion will not leave us during the night," said the Kaffir called
Tembili, "I will not sleep unless you watch, 'Nquane."

"Yes, I will watch whilst you sleep, then you sleep whilst I watch,"
replied the Kaffir addressed as 'Nquane. "We shall shoot elephants
to-morrow, I think; and the young chief must be now close to them, that
is why he does not return."

"No: he would return to tell us if he could, I fear he must have lost
himself," replied Tembili.

"The `strong' lose himself," exclaimed 'Nquane, "no, as soon the vulture
lose his way in the air, or the springbok on the plains, or the elephant
in the forest, as the strong lose himself any where. He sees without
eyes and hears without ears. Hark! is that the lion?"

Both Kaffirs listened attentively for some minutes, when 'Nquane said,
"It is the lion moving up the krantz: he smells something or hears
something; he must have tasted man's flesh, to have stopped here so long
close to us. What can he hear now? Ah, there is something up high in
the bushes, a buck perhaps, the lion will soon feast on it, and that
will be the better for us, as when his belly is full he will not want to
eat you or me."

Attentively as the Kaffirs watched the bushes, and listened for some
sound indicative of the lion's position, they yet could hear nothing; so
quietly did the creature move, they had almost given up their attention
to eating, when a sudden flash of light burst from the bushes on the top
of the kloof, followed by a thundering roar which was succeeded by a
silence, broken only at intervals by the distant echoes of the report of
the gun, which at first had scarcely been audible in the midst of the
lion's roar, for such it proved to be.

As these sounds burst over the camp, each hunter started from his
slumber, and stood waiting for some fresh indication of danger, or cause
for action; for half a minute no man spoke, but then Bernhard
exclaimed--

"That must have been Han