this
dreadful foe--for we had made up our minds that it must be a man-eating
lion--that we were utterly indifferent to the other animals. But they
were not indifferent to us; for the wounded rhinoceros, catching sight
of us as we stood with our backs towards him, charged at once up the
hillock.

To utter three simultaneous yet fearfully distinct yells of terror,
spring over the low parapet of bushes, and fly like the wind in three
different directions, was the work of a moment. In dashing madly down
the slope my foot caught in a creeping shrub, and I fell heavily to the
earth.

The fall probably saved my life, for before I could rise the rhinoceros
sprang completely over me in its headlong charge. So narrow was my
escape that the edge of one of its ponderous feet alighted on the first
joint of the little finger of my left hand, and crushed it severely.
Indeed, had the ground not been very soft, it must infallibly have
bruised it off altogether. The moment it had passed I jumped up, and
turning round, ran in the opposite direction. I had scarcely gone ten
paces when a furious growl behind me, and the grappling sound as of two
animals in deadly conflict, followed by a fierce howl, led me to
conclude that the lion and the rhinoceros had unexpectedly met each
other, and that in their brief conflict the former had come off second
best.

But I gave little heed to that. My principal thought at that moment was
my personal safety; so I ran on as fast as I could in the direction of
our encampment, for which point, I had no doubt, my companions would
also make.

I had not run far when the growl of a lion, apparently in front, caused
me to stop abruptly. Uncertain of the exact position of the brute, I
turned off to one side, and retreated cautiously and with as little
noise as possible, yet with a feeling of anxiety lest he should spring
upon me unawares. But my next step showed me that the lion was
otherwise engaged. Pushing aside a few leaves that obstructed my
vision, I suddenly beheld a lion in the midst of an open space, crouched
as if for a spring. Instinctively I threw forward the muzzle of my
rifle; but a single glance showed me that his tail, not his head, was
towards me. On looking beyond, I observed the head and shoulders of
Jack, who, like the lion, was also in a crouching position, staring
fixedly in the face of his foe. They were both perfectly motionless,
and there could not have been more than fif