n two before it
could be removed.

Morisot, by the way, had a startling adventure with a lion. We were
camped at the Crocodile River Drift; lions were more plentiful in the
neighborhood than I have ever known them elsewhere; all night long they
growled or gruntled around our encampment. The river bank, close to the
water, was very sandy, and the spoor on the sand strip, which lay about
two hundred yards from the wagons, showed that many lions used to pass
to and fro over it every night. It was our habit to light six large
fires as soon as the sun went down.

Morisot said he wanted to shoot a lion, so one day he dug a shallow pit
in the sand, within about twenty yards of the water. Just before
nightfall he took his rifle and went away in the direction of the
drift. Nothing happened for a couple of hours; then we heard the sound
of approaching footsteps evidently of some one running and husky gasps.
Shortly afterwards Morisot, minus his rifle and hat, rushed into camp.
He was in a condition of ghastly terror; his jaw had dropped, his face
was ashen, his eyes were glazed. He tottered to his sleeping place and
crept under the blankets.

Morisot could never be induced to tell us what had happened to him.
Next morning, however, we found the spoor of a very large lion at the
edge of the pit. My own idea is that Morisot went to sleep and was
awakened by the lion growling within a few inches of his face. One
could hardly blame him for being demoralized under such circumstances.

Those who nowadays travel by rail through the denuded tract between
Delagoa Bay and the Drakensberg can form no idea as to the marvelous
richness of animal life on those plains in the early seventies. More
especially was this the case in the level wooded area extending from
the inland slope of the Lebomba Range to Ship Mountain. Blue
wildebeeste and quagga were so plentiful that we seldom wasted
ammunition on them. Buffalo abounded, sometimes in very large herds.
Waterbuck were always to be found near the rivers. Elephants existed,
but were very wild and usually were scarce. Giraffe were numerous, but
difficult to approach on foot.

The Komati and the Crocodile were then wide, swiftly flowing streams;
in winter their water was crystal clear. Along their banks the dense,
evergreen boskage lay soft and rich as velvet. In these enchanted
thickets koodoo, sable, and other beautiful antelopes of the rarer
varieties were always to be found. Impala were a