and he replied, “ Assad ” (Lion). I leaped to my feet
and ran toward him, just in time to see a lion cantering:
off into the darkness. The Soudanese said that
for an hour or so he had heard the deep breathing of
one of these beasts, but for some time was unable
to find the whereabouts of the animal, till at length
in the darkness he distinguished the flaring eyes of
the lion turned towards him, at a distance of fifty or
sixty feet. Not knowing I was awake, nor wishing
to disturb the camp, he contented himself with hurling
stones and curses at the animal; and these, together
with the sound of my voice and feet, as I ran
toward the watch, were sufficient to frighten the lion
away.
One of the few amusing occurrences which happened
to relieve the dreary monotony of the continued nervous
strain to which I was during this time subjected,
was the following. Early one morning I came upon
a fine water-buck standing fifty or sixty yards from
the river, and not many more from me. We sighted
one another simultaneously, and the animal broke for
the neighbouring bush — not, however, before he had
received a shot in the hip from my rifle. A t once
Felix and the two puppies bounded after him in full
cry. The bush was so thick that I could not see
them, but I could hear their shrill barks, and the
cracking of the bush, as the water-buck dashed through
it. Presently he came straight at me, his horns lying
along his back, and the three dogs at his heels. The
sight was so interesting, that I stayed my hand. On
he dashed, and plunged into the river, where the dogs
followed him. The Guaso Nyiro at that point was
narrow, and in consequence the current was very strong.
The antelope crossed to the other bank, and then
stood'at bay, endeavouring to strike the dogs with his
fore feet and horns. He cut two of them slightly, but
this in no degree abated their ardour; so, fearing the
dogs might get injured, I at length despatched him
with a shot in the brain.
It was only in the early morning or late afternoon
that the dogs proved of any service in hunting. While
the sun was blazing hot, all their energies seemed
expended in keeping up with the caravan; and even
if a rhinoceros was killed within a few yards' of them,
they took no interest in the event. But when the
air was cool, they were most useful in chasing game
of any sort. On one occasion just after sunrise they
caught sight of a rhinoceros standing at a distance
of 200 yards from our path, and were after him at
full speed, barking vigorously, and snapping at his
legs. The beast knew not what to do, in order to
escape his little tormentors, and so kept turning round
and round. At length Felix managed to seize one
of his ears, to which he clung tenaciously. The rhinoceros
then began a series of rapid revolutions for
the purpose of shaking off the dog, but Felix held
on like grim death; although at times by the swift
motions of the rhinoceros his body was swung at right
angles from perpendicular. As the attention of the
beast was monopolized by the dogs, I was able to
approach as close as I wished, and I despatched him
with a shot in the heart. The only animal which filled
my dogs with timidity was the lion. If we crossed
the track of one of these beasts, the little dogs would