Part 9 (1/2)
That is a very typical exa lions by sheer chance
Generally a aainst them Now happened to follow an equally typical exa of the lioness Mereater kudu on a series of terraces fifteen hundred feet below All we found were two rhino, so, a heard of impalla, and a tremendous thirst In the meantime, Mavrouki had, under orders, scouted the foothills of the e at the back He reported none but old tracks of kudu, but said he had seen eight lions not far from our encounter of the day before
Therefore, as soon next ain crossed the canyon and the waist-deep streaun eous porters to help with the tracking and the looking
About eight o'clock we found the first fresh pad mark plainly outlined in an isolated piece of soft earth I over difficult ground In this we could all take part, for the tracks were some hours old, and the cover scanty
Very rarely could we make out more than three successive htest indication of direction Kongoni in especial onderful at this, and tirass blade or the minutest inch-fraction of disturbed earth We s about, and in swift little dashes forward of a few feet; and often ent astray on false scents, only to return finally to the last certain spot In this manner we crossed the little plain with the scattered shrub trees and arrived at the edge of the low bluff above the strea the ied with low thick brush, and in the open spaces grown to the edges with high, green, coarse grass
As soon as we had rass, our difficulties of trailing were at an end The lions' heavy bodies had le These paths went forward sinuously, so, so into one for a short distance We could not determine accurately the nuone to drink water,” said Me paths, alert for indications; cae, and descended to the streae was covered with tracks, thickly overlaid one over the other The boys felt of the earth, examined, even smelled, and came to the conclusion that the beasts ht be ten miles away, or asjust where the party left this place, until finally Kongoni caught sight of suspicious indications over the way The lions had crossed the stream We did likewise, followed the trail out of the thicket, into the grass, below the little cliffs parallel to the stream, back into the thicket, across the river once more, up the other side, in the thicket for a quarter rass on that side, and so on They were evidently wandering, rather idly, up the general course of the strea their feet wet, for they crossed the strea paths in the shoulder-high grass fanned out separately We counted
”You were right, Mavrouki,” said I, ”there were eight”
At the end of each path was a beaten-down little space where evidently the beasts had been lying down With an exclaate The lairs were still warm! Their occupants had evidently made off only at our approach!
Not five ht ahead We stopped The boys squatted on their heels close to me, and we consulted in whispers
Of course it would be sheer h we could not see five feet in front of us That ithout saying On the other hand, Mavrouki swore that he had yesterday seen no small cubs with the band, and our examination of the tracks made in soft earth seemed to bear him out The chances were therefore that, unless themselves attacked or too close pressed, the lions would not attack us
By keeping just in their rear weuntil they should enter ave the owner of that growl about five et it, and then advanced very cautiously We soon found where the objector had halted, and plainly read by the indications where he had stood for aafter
For five hours we hung at the heels of that band of lions,to halt whenever they told us to, and going forward again only e becaone on
Except for the first half hour, ere never more than twenty or thirty yards from the nearest lion, and oftenyellow bodies just ahead of me, but in the circumstances it would have been sheer stark lunacy to have fired
Probably six or eight times-I did not count-ere co work, but the men never faltered Of course I went first, in case one of the beasts had the toothache or otherwise did not play up to our calculations on good nature One or the other of the gunbearers was always just behind oni looked very closely into my face
”There are very many lions,” he reh assenting to a h I a as we stuck to our plan of ca to be for so long a period so near these great brutes They led us for athe course of the stream, sometimes on one side, soed into better cover, and even into the open, but always ducked back into the thick again before we ourselves had followed their trail to the clear
At noon ere halted by the usual growl just as we had reached the edge of the river So we sat down on the banks and had lunch
Finally our chance carass into the thicket along the river We ducked our heads to enter Meers violently
Following the direction of the brown arm that shot over my shoulder, I strained my eyes into the di at all, but at length a slight motion drew my eye Then Ius steadily One of the rear guard had again turned to halt us, but this tis could be seen
Luckily I always use a Sheard gold bead sight, and even in the dimness of the tree-shaded thicket it showed up well The beast was only forty yards away, so I fired at his head He rolled over without a sound