However, there was not much time for reflection—
where was the first lion 1 Some remains of the
buffalo lay upon my right, and I expected to find
the lion, most probably crouching in the thorns
somewhere near us. Having reloaded, I took one
of my Reilly No. 10 rifles, and listened attentively
for a sound. Presently I heard within a few yards a
low growl. Taher Noor drew his sword, and, with
his shield before him, he searched for the lion, while I
crept forward towards the sound, which was again
repeated. A loud roar, accompanied by a rush in the
jungle, showed us a glimpse of the lion, as he bounded
off within ten, or twelve yards ; but I had no chance
to fire. Again the low growl was repeated, and upon
quietly creeping towards the spot, I saw a splendid
animal crouched upon the ground among the withered
and broken grass. The lioness lay dying, with the
bullet wound in the shoulder. Occasionally, in her
rage, she bit her own paw violently, and then struck and
clawed the ground. A pool of blood lay by her side. She
was about ten yards from us, and I instructed my men
to throw a clod of earth at her (there were no stones),
to prove whether she could rise, while I stood ready
with the rifle. She merely replied with a dull roar,
and I terminated her misery by a ball through the
head. She was a beautiful animal; the patch of the
bullet was sticking in the wound; she was shot
through both shoulders, and as we were not far from
the tent, I determined to have her brought to camp
upon a camel as all offering to my wife. Accordingly
I left my Tokrooris, while I went with Taher Noor to
tetch a camel.
On our road through the thick jungle, I was startled
y a rush close to me : for the moment I thought it
was a lion, but almost at the same instant I saw a
fine nellut dashing away before me, and I killed it
immediately with a buffet through the back of the
neck. This was great luck, and we now required two
camels as m two shots I had killed a lioness and a
nellut (A. Strepsiceros).
We remained for some time at our delightful camp
at Delladilla. Every day, from sunrise to sunset, I was
either on foot or in the saddle, without rest, except
upon Sundays, which I generally passed at home
with the relaxation of fishing in the beautiful river
ettite. There was an immense quantity of lame
game, and I had made a mixed bag of elephants,
ppopotami, buffaloes, rhinoceros, giraffes, and great
numbers of the large antelopes. Lions, although
numerous, were exceedingly difficult to bag • there
was no chance but the extreme risk of creeping
through the thickest jungle. Upon two or three
occasions I had shot them by crawling into their
very dens, where they had dragged their prey; and
must acknowledge that they were much more
frightened of me than I was of them. I had
generally obtained a most difficult and unsatisfactory
shot at close quarters; sometimes I rolled
them over with a mortal wound, and they disappeared
to die in impenetrable jungle; but at all
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