o force our way through these, or step
from boulder to boulder. Only very rarely did we get a little rubbly
clear space to walk in, and then for only ten or twenty feet. We tried
in spaced intervals to cover the whole hillside. It was very hard work.
The boys, with the horses, kept pace with us on the sky-line atop, and
two or three hundred yards away.

We had proceeded in this fashion for about a mile, when suddenly, and
most unexpectedly, the biggest lion I ever saw leapt straight up from a
bush twenty-five yards in front of me, and with a tremendous roar
vanished behind another bush. I had just time to throw up the.405
shotgun-fashion and let drive a snapshot. Clifford Hill, who was ten
yards to my right, saw the fur fly, and we all heard the snarl as the
bullet hit. Naturally we expected an instant charge, but, as things
turned out, it was evident the lion had not seen us at all. He had leapt
at the sight of our men and horses on the sky-line, and when the bullet
hit he must have ascribed it to them. At any rate, he began to circle
through the tangled vines in their direction.

From their elevation they could follow his movements. At once they set
up howls of terror and appeals for help. Some began frantically to run
back and forth. None of them tried to run away; there was nowhere to go!
The only thing that saved them was the thick and spiky character of the
cover. The lion, instead of charging straight and fast, was picking an
easy way.

We tore directly up hill as fast as we were able, leaping from rock to
rock, and thrusting recklessly through the tangle. About half-way up I
jumped to the top of a high, conical rock, and thence by good luck
caught sight of the lion's great yellow head advancing steadily about
eighty yards away. I took as good a sight as I could and pulled trigger.
The recoil knocked me clear off the boulder, but as I fell I saw his
tail go up and knew that I had hit. At once Clifford Hill and I jumped
up on the rock again, but the lion had moved out of sight. By this time,
however, the sound of the shots and the smell of blood had caused the
dogs to close in. They did not, of course, attempt to attack the lion,
nor even to get very near him, but their snarling and barking showed us
the beast's whereabouts. Even this much is bad judgment on their part,
as a number of them have been killed at it. The thicket burst into an
unholy row.

We all manoeuvred rapidly for position. Again luck was with