The Next Moment Out Bounded A Lioness,
Who Raced Straight Across The Open Strip Into The
Next Patch Of Jungle,
Quickly followed by another.
Throwing myself off my pony, I seized my rifle
to get a shot at the second
Lioness as she galloped
past, and was just about to pull the trigger, when
to my utter amazement out sprang a huge black-maned
lion, making all haste after his mates.
Before he could reach the further thicket,
however, I fired, and had the satisfaction of hearing
the deep growl that tells of a serious hit.
The beaters and I now advanced with great
care, taking advantage of every bit of cover and
keeping a sharp look-out for the wounded animal
as we crept from tree to tree. Fully a quarter
of an hour must have elapsed in this slow yet
exciting search, before one of the men, some fifty
or sixty yards to my left, and a little ahead of
the line, called out that he could see the lion
awaiting our approach, with his head just visible
in a large bed of rushes only a short distance
in front of where I then was. Almost at the
same moment I found blood marks left by the
wounded animal, leading apparently to a kind of
gap in the bank of the river, which had evidently
been worn down by a rhino going to and fro to
drink. I accordingly made for this with the
greatest caution, ordering all the men, except
Mahina, to remain behind; and as noiselessly
as possible I slipped from cover to cover in my
endeavour to obtain a peep over the bank.
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