By Signal I Ordered Them To Advance In
Line On The Thicket In Which The Lioness Had Just
Taken Refuge, While I Took Up My Position On One
Side, So As To Obtain A Good Shot When She Broke
Covert.
The line of natives shouting their native
cries and striking their spears together soon
disturbed her, and out she
Sprang into the open,
making for a clump of rushes close to the river.
Unfortunately she broke out at the most
unfavourable spot from my point of view, as some
of the natives masked my fire, and I had
consequently to wait until she got almost to the
edge of the rushes. Whether or not I hit her
then I cannot say; at any rate, she made good
her escape into the reeds, where I decided to
leave her until Brock should arrive.
I now retraced my steps towards the spot
where I had shot the lion, expecting, of course,
to find the man I had told to watch him still
on guard. To my intense vexation, however,
I found that my sentry had deserted his post
and had joined the other men of the party,
having become frightened when left by himself.
The result of his disobedience was that now
I could not tell where lay the dead lion - or,
rather, the lion which I believed to be dead; but
I had no intention of losing so fine a trophy, so
I began a systematic search, dividing the jungle
into strips, and thus going over the whole place
thoroughly.
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