“As they fired at a rhinoceros, a lion leaped into their inclosure, took up one of the men in his mouth and carried him off, and all that they afterward could find of him the next day was one of the bones of his leg.  The next night, as they were sitting by a fire inside of their inclosure of bushes, a lion came, seized one of the men, dragged him through the fire, and tore out his back.  One of the party fired, but missed; upon which, the lion, dropping his dying victim, growled at the men across the fire, and they durst not repeat the shot; the lion then took up his prey in his mouth, and went off with it.

“Alarmed at such disasters, the Namaquas collected together in one strong inclosure, and at night sent out one of the slaves for water.  He had no sooner reached the pool than he was seized by a lion; he called in vain for help, but was dragged off through the woods, and the next day his skull only was found, clean licked by the rough tongue of the lion.

“Having now lost three men in three days, the chief and his whole party turned out to hunt and destroy lions only.  They followed the spoor or track of the one which had taken the slave, and they soon found two lions, one of which, the smallest, they shot; and then, having taken their breakfast, they went after the other, and largest, which was recognized as the one which had devoured the man.

“They followed the animal to a patch of reeds, where it had intrenched itself; they set fire to the reeds and forced it out, and as it was walking off it was severely wounded by one of the party, when it immediately turned back, and, with a loud roar, charged right through the smoke and the burning reeds.  The monster dashed in among them and seized the chief’s brother by the back, tearing out his ribs and exposing his lungs.

“The chief rushed to the assistance of his expiring brother; his gun burned priming.  He dashed it down, and in his desperation seized the lion by the tail.  The lion let go the body, and turned upon the chief, and with a stroke of his fore-paw tore a large piece of flesh off the chief’s arm; then struck him again and threw him on the ground.  The chief rose instantly, but the lion then seized him by the knee, threw him down again, and there held him, mangling his left arm.

“Torn and bleeding, the chief in a feeble voice called to his men to shoot the animal from behind, which was at last done with a ball which passed through the lion’s brain.  After this destruction of four men in four days, the hunting was given over; the body of the chief’s brother was buried, and the party went home, bearing with them their wounded chief.”

“Well, that is the most horrible lion-adventure I have yet heard,” said the Major.  “Heaven preserve us from a man-eating lion!”

“It really has almost taken away my breath,” said Alexander.