and exclamations of the men, as they painfully made
their descent, the presence of this other and far more
ominous sound impressed itself with peculiar suddenness
upon my mind. Although I both instinctively
and instantaneously knew its import, I could scarce
credit my ears, until frequent repetition and increase in
volume of the sound convinced me that the lion (for
such it was) was approaching nearer and nearer.
The shadows, which filled the rift in the side of the
crater through which I had come, prevented me from
distinguishing anything in that direction; and so, with
all senses keenly alert, I turned my eyes to the surface
lit by the moonlight. I even looked into the hollow
of the crater stretched far below, where I could momentarily
distinguish gleams of light reflected back
from the shining sides of the water-bottles carried by
my men, who by that time were making their way across
the bottom.
The peculiar formation of the place rendered it difficult
to fix the position of a sound with any degree of
accuracy, but eventually I discovered that the lion
was approaching me from above; and the rattle of slipping
and falling stones soon led me to decide upon the
direction from which to expect his coming. For a
moment, I thought of firing a shot into the air to
frighten him; but I at once realized that such a shot
would be construed by my men in the crater as a signal
; and, in addition, would not only arouse the natives
below, but interfere with the prompt procurement of
water. But I was unable to remain quiet; so I seized
stones from the ground at my feet, and hurled them
vigorously in the direction from which I heard the lion
coming. The grumbling noise ceased; and encouraged
by this, I continued to throw stones in the same direction,
occasionally giving vent to a low-toned but vigorous
shout. This game I continued until my arm was tired
and my voice hoarse. No further sound came to me.
A t length I could distinguish the voices of my men, as
they clambered up the side of the crater. When they
had approached within hailing distance, I told them
of the presence of the lion; and they at once began
to shout, and beat their water-bottles, which probably
had the desired effect, for we heard no more of his
feline majesty.
My men reported that they had found about seventy
natives at the bottom of the crater, and that these,
upon discovering their presence, had evinced every
sign of terror; but upon learning who my men were,
had assured them that they were Embe and our
friends, and had presented my people with sugarcane
and yams.
It was nearly one o’clock in the morning before the
men who were suffering from thirst reached camp, and
their thirst was not quenched until the two had drunk
nine litres of this disagreeable water. They reached
camp with recovered senses, but worn out and very
feeble. Notwithstanding the fact that natives were
in the immediate neighbourhood, we were so fatigued
by the labours of the day that we went to sleep after
starting camp-fires, without so much as detailing a
single picket.
The march was not resumed until late the following
day, in order to give the sufferers from thirst an
opportunity to recover fully. While we were waiting,