There was a small moon, which was nearly set, so that we had not much light to help us. I was favored in my position by having the moon almost directly in front of me, while the ground outside the kraal sloped off gradually at that point. It was understood that we were to act independently of one another, and also not to waste our bullets. No one was to fire except when he felt certain that he saw a good mark to fire at.
The uneasiness of the oxen and horses continued; our dogs were also running around, and manifesting a desire to take part in whatever fighting was about to occur. Now and then they indicated their feelings by growling; they would have barked outright had they not been ordered most emphatically to emulate the example of the oyster and "shut up."
We had been ten or fifteen minutes on the top of the huts when I made out the forms of three lions that were half walking and half crawling along the ridge betwixt me and the sky. They seemed to be a lion and two lionesses, or possibly an old lion with two younger ones. At any rate, I could make out a heavy mane on the foremost of the brutes, and little or none at all on the others.
I brought my rifle to the shoulder, and let fly at the leader and largest of the trio. I aimed to take him in the shoulder-blade, and either kill or disable him at the first shot.
My rifle rang out on the still night air, and immediately following it there was a terrific roar, which told that my bullet had hit its mark. Following the roar was a rush toward my position; the victim of my shot desired revenge, and in order to obtain it made for the direction of the flash.
His companions followed him; and the whole three came dashing on through the outlying mass of thorn-bushes and up to the very front of the kraal. But an African lion is not proof; against the wait-a-bit thorn. The only animals that can successfully defy this product of the African soil are the elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, and alligator. Well, yes, I do not think the buffalo minds the wait-a-bit, at least when he is old, and his skin has acquired the proper toughness; but the young buffalo treats it with respect after he has become experienced in its qualities.
The lion came no farther than the fence, just outside the hut on which I stood; another leap and he would have reached me.
This reminds me of one night when I was in camp in the Impanyi country and had not made a strong kraal. The lions came around the kraal at night, and I was waked up suddenly by hearing one of the oxen bellowing and the dogs barking. The night was pretty dark, and it was not easy for me to perceive objects more than fifteen or twenty feet away. My tent was pitched close to the rear of the wagon; when I got outside I saw the driver standing on the top of a grass-hut about six feet high, which was near the front wheels of the wagon. The ox was bellowing and the lion was growling; they were not more than twenty yards from me, but it was so dark that I could not see them. I climbed to the top of the hut by the side of the driver, and after fixing my eyes steadily on the spot for some minutes I thought I could make out the lion's form. At any rate, I fired in that belief, and the growl and roar which immediately followed told me I had made a hit. The ox was evidently dead by this time, as all sound from him had ceased.
I put in another cartridge and fired again, this time a few inches lower than before. My shot was followed by a loud roar, far more terrific than the one which had preceded it, and the roar was followed by a spring. How many bounds the lion made I do not know, but he struck me full in the chest with his head, and sent me tumbling off the hut to the ground on which it stood. In my fall I brought with me the wagon-driver, and at first I thought it was the lion that was mixed up with me on the ground, instead of the harmless Kafir. The driver scrambled to the top of the wagon, and I followed and got on the box. I do not understand how the driver managed to get there so quickly, as the whole thing passed in a very short time.