Page:Seven Years in South Africa v1.djvu/329

 gourd bottle, lying on the ground, and, trusting to his assegai, had resolved to venture on alone.

“But what was an assegai,” exclaimed Shebor, “in the face of a lion who had just tasted human blood?”

It was clear that before he reached his brother’s corpse the lion had sprung from its concealment, and secured him as a second victim.

Finding next morning that both the men were absent the whole party was in consternation, too truly fearing the worst. They applied for help at a Barolong farm close at hand, and, following the tracks, were not long in discovering the two mangled bodies close to each other. The marks on the ground were quite distinct, and left no doubt that a lion had just quitted the spot. Probably it had only been scared away by their own approach, and they determined to continue their chase. After they had made their way for about 500 yards along the bank, they caught sight of a tawny object in a thicket just ahead. They hardly dared to hope that it was the creature of which they were in pursuit; but simultaneously a number of them fired, and great was their triumph when they discovered amongst the bushes the carcass of a huge lion pierced by six bullets.

Such was the substance of Shebor’s narrative, which he told with much energy and many gesticulations. It had its due effect in inducing us to take every precaution on our way to our next encampment on the slope, about three miles from Konana.