hes
by a pool, where they knew the elephant and rhinoceros would come to
drink.

"As they fired at a rhinoceros, a lion leaped into their inclosure, took
up one of the men in his mouth and carried him off, and all that they
afterward could find of him the next day was one of the bones of his
leg. The next night, as they were sitting by a fire inside of their
inclosure of bushes, a lion came, seized one of the men, dragged him
through the fire, and tore out his back. One of the party fired, but
missed; upon which, the lion, dropping his dying victim, growled at the
men across the fire, and they durst not repeat the shot; the lion then
took up his prey in his mouth, and went off with it.

"Alarmed at such disasters, the Namaquas collected together in one
strong inclosure, and at night sent out one of the slaves for water. He
had no sooner reached the pool than he was seized by a lion; he called
in vain for help, but was dragged off through the woods, and the next
day his skull only was found, clean licked by the rough tongue of the
lion.

"Having now lost three men in three days, the chief and his whole party
turned out to hunt and destroy lions only. They followed the spoor or
track of the one which had taken the slave, and they soon found two
lions, one of which, the smallest, they shot; and then, having taken
their breakfast, they went after the other, and largest, which was
recognized as the one which had devoured the man.

"They followed the animal to a patch of reeds, where it had intrenched
itself; they set fire to the reeds and forced it out, and as it was
walking off it was severely wounded by one of the party, when it
immediately turned back, and, with a loud roar, charged right through
the smoke and the burning reeds. The monster dashed in among them and
seized the chief's brother by the back, tearing out his ribs and
exposing his lungs.

"The chief rushed to the assistance of his expiring brother; his gun
burned priming. He dashed it down, and in his desperation seized the
lion by the tail. The lion let go the body, and turned upon the chief,
and with a stroke of his fore-paw tore a large piece of flesh off the
chief's arm; then struck him again and threw him on the ground. The
chief rose instantly, but the lion then seized him by the knee, threw
him down again, and there held him, mangling his left arm.

"Torn and bleeding, the chief in a feeble voice called to his men to
shoot the animal from behind,