After This Dismal Failure There Was, Of Course,
Nothing To Do But To Return To Camp.
Before doing
so, however, I proceeded to view the dead donkey,
which I found to have been only slightly devoured
it the quarters.
It is a curious fact that lions
always begin at the tail of their prey and eat
upwards towards the head. As their meal had
thus been interrupted evidently at the very
beginning, I felt pretty sure that one or other
of the brutes would return to the carcase at
nightfall. Accordingly, as there was no tree of
any kind close at hand, I had a staging erected
some ten feet away from the body. This machan
was about twelve feet high and was composed
of four poles stuck into the ground and inclined
towards each other at the top, where a plank
was lashed to serve as a seat. Further, as the
nights were still pitch dark, I had the donkey's
carcase secured by strong wires to a neighbouring
stump, so that the lions might not be able to drag
it away before I could get a shot at them.
At sundown, therefore, I took up my position
on my airy perch, and much to the disgust of my
gun-bearer, Mahina, I decided to go alone. I
would gladly have taken him with me, indeed, but
he had a bad cough, and I was afraid lest he
should make any involuntary noise or movement
which might spoil all. Darkness fell almost
immediately, and everything became extraordinarily
still. The silence of an African jungle on a dark
night needs to be experienced to be realised;
it is most impressive, especially when one is
absolutely alone and isolated from one's fellow
creatures, as I was then. The solitude and
stillness, and the purpose of my vigil, all had
their effect on me, and from a condition of strained
expectancy I gradually fell into a dreamy mood
which harmonised well with my surroundings.
Suddenly I was startled out of my reverie by
the snapping of a twig: and, straining my ears
for a further sound, I fancied I could hear the
rustling of a large body forcing its way through
the bush. "The man-eater," I thought to
myself; "surely to-night my luck will change
and I shall bag one of the brutes." Profound
silence again succeeded; I sat on my eyrie like
a statue, every nerve tense with excitement.
Very soon, however, all doubt as to the presence
of the lion was dispelled. A deep long-drawn
sigh - sure sign of hunger - came up from the
bushes, and the rustling commenced again as he
cautiously advanced. In a moment or two a
sudden stop, followed by an angry growl, told
me that my presence had been noticed; and I
began to fear that disappointment awaited me
once more.
But no; matters quickly took an unexpected
turn. The hunter became the hunted; and
instead of either making off or coming for the
bait prepared for him, the lion began stealthily
to stalk me! For about two hours he horrified
me by slowly creeping round and round my
crazy structure, gradually edging his way nearer
and nearer. Every moment I expected him to
rush it; and the staging had not been constructed
with an eye to such a possibility. If one of the
rather flimsy poles should break, or if the lion
could spring the twelve feet which separated me
from the ground . . . the thought was scarcely
a pleasant one. I began to feel distinctly
"creepy," and heartily repented my folly in having
placed myself in such a dangerous position. I
kept perfectly still, however, hardly daring even
to blink my eyes: but the long-continued strain
was telling on my nerves, and my feelings may
be better imagined than described when about
midnight suddenly something came flop and struck
me on the back of the head. For a moment I
was so terrified that I nearly fell off the plank, as
I thought that the lion had sprung on me from
behind. Regaining my senses in a second or two,
I realised that I had been hit by nothing more
formidable than an owl, which had doubtless
mistaken me for the branch of a tree - not a
very alarming thing to happen in ordinary circumstances,
I admit, but coming at the time it did,
it almost paralysed me. The involuntary start
which I could not help giving was immediately
answered by a sinister growl from below.
After this I again kept as still as I could,
though absolutely trembling with excitement; and
in a short while I heard the lion begin to creep
stealthily towards me. I could barely make out
his form as he crouched among the whitish undergrowth;
but I saw enough for my purpose, and
before he could come any nearer, I took careful
aim and pulled the trigger. The sound of the
shot was at once followed by a most terrific roar,
and then I could hear him leaping about in all
directions. I was no longer able to see him,
however, as his first bound had taken him into
the thick bush; but to make assurance doubly
sure, I kept blazing away in the direction in which
I heard him plunging about. At length came a
series of mighty groans, gradually subsiding into
deep sighs, and finally ceasing altogether; and I
felt convinced that one of the "devils" who
had so long harried us would trouble us no more.
As soon as I ceased firing, a tumult of inquiring
voices was borne across the dark jungle from the
men in camp about a quarter of a mile away.
I shouted back that I was safe and sound, and
that one of the lions was dead: whereupon such a
mighty cheer went up from all the camps as
must have astonished the denizens of the jungle
for miles around. Shortly I saw scores of lights
twinkling through the bushes:
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