een a very rash thing to attack a lioness with only three guns. So the
antelopes escaped?"

"Yes, but we have the elands, which you say are such good eating. Do we
stay here any longer, or do we proceed up the river?"

"You must ask Wilmot to decide that point," said Swinton.

"It is just as you please," said Alexander; "but they say that the more
you go to the northward, the more plentiful is the game."

"Yes, and we shall fall in with the giraffe," said the Major, "which is
now the great object of my ambition. I have killed the rhinoceros and
elephant, and now I must have the giraffe; they can kill the two first
animals in India, but the other is only to be had in this country."

"And when you meet again your Indian friends, you wish to say that you
have killed what they have not?"

"Certainly; what is the good of travelling so far, if one has not
something to boast of when one returns? If I say I have hunted and
killed the rhinoceros and elephant, they may reply to me, `So have we;'
but if I add the giraffe, that will silence them; don't you observe,
Swinton, I then remain master of the field? But here come the
Hottentots with our game; come, Swinton, leave your preparations for a
little while, and see what our morning's sport has been."

Swinton put aside the skin of the sassaby that he was cleaning, and
walked with them to where the men were assembled, and was not a little
surprised when he saw the skins and jaws of the lion and lioness. He
was still more so when the Major recounted how they had been shot.

"You certainly have run a great risk," said he, "and I am glad that you
have been so successful. You are right in saying that I should have
persuaded you not to attempt it; you are like two little boys who have
taken advantage of the absence of their tutor to run into mischief.
However, I am glad that it has been done, as I now hope your desire to
kill a lion will not again lead you into unnecessary danger."

"No, indeed," replied Alexander; "having once accomplished the feat, and
being fully aware of the great risk that is run, we shall be more
prudent in future."

"That is all I ask of you," said Swinton, "for I should be unhappy if we
did not all three return safe to the Cape. I never saw a finer lion's
skin; I will arrange it for you, that it shall arrive at the Cape in
good order."

As usual, the afternoon was by the Hottentots devoted to eating as much
as they could possibly contrive to