his fringe is quite narrow, while in
others it is about a quarter of a mile wide, with grassy glades here
and there among the trees. Every now and again, too, the stream itself
widens out into a broad stretch of water, nearly always covered over
with tall reeds and elephant grass, while along the banks are frequent
patches of stunted bushes, which struck me as very likely places for
the king of beasts to sleep in after having drunk at the river. I had
noticed that after having eaten and drunk well, a lion would throw
himself down quite without caution in the first shady spot he came to;
of course nothing except man ever disturbs him, and even of man the
lions in this part of the country had as yet no fear, for they had
rarely if ever been hunted previous to my time.

As I felt rather tired after my morning's work, I decided to use my
pony on this expedition, although as a rule I went on foot. Mahina and
half-a-dozen natives to beat the belt of trees were to accompany me,
and after a hasty lunch off we started up the left bank of the river. I
walked for some distance at first, partly because the ground was very
stony and partly because I thought a lion might suddenly bound out of
some likely patches in front of the beaters; but after having gone
about six miles in this way without adventure of any kind, I decided to
mount again. At this time the beaters were in line about a hundred
yards behind me, shouting and halloing with all their might as they
advanced through the scrub and undergrowth, while I rode well to the
flank so as to be ready for any emergency. Just as the men got up to a
rather thicker piece of jungle than usual, I fancied I saw a movement
among the bushes and pulled up suddenly to watch the spot, but did not
dismount. The next moment out bounded a lioness, who raced straight
across the open strip into the next patch of jungle, quickly followed
by another. Throwing myself off my pony, I seized my rifle to get a
shot at the second lioness as she galloped past, and was just about to
pull the trigger, when to my utter amazement out sprang a huge
black-maned lion, making all haste after his mates. Before he could
reach the further thicket, however, I fired, and had the satisfaction
of hearing the deep growl that tells of a serious hit.

The beaters and I now advanced with great care, taking advantage of
every bit of cover and keeping a sharp look-out for the wounded animal
as we crept from tree to tree. Fully