the worse, and, lashed to fury by a second shot, advanced by high leaps towards the frightened boys.
On this, Baker, who had till now been hidden behind the ant-hills, snatched up his spare gun and stood in front of his cover. The lioness was startled by this movement, and half turned, receiving as she did so a charge of shot in her hind quarters. This decided her to retreat, and the grass soon hid her from sight, though they still heard her groaning.
Then some of the other men came up, and were hastily placed in line to receive the lioness when she should make her charge.
A shot soon brought her out, charging in those tremendous leaps so frightening to see, and the spears thrown by the natives missed her entirely. There was nothing for it but flight, and in a moment the black men were tearing for their lives in every direction. But a shot from Baker’s breech-loader right in the chest rolled her over a second time, when she had almost reached him, and a ball at the back of her neck, fired at twelve yards distance, at last put an end to her struggles.
Inside her stomach was found a freshly eaten antelope, which the black men, who were not particular, begged to have for their dinner. After this it is not surprising to hear that they were prepared to eat the lioness herself, while the white men took the other antelope for their share.
Nearly sixty years have passed since Dr. Livingstone sailed for Algoa Bay, whence he was to start for his missionary travels into the centre of Africa. His journeys were made either by ox-back, or on foot, and at first the natives despised him for his size, which was much less than theirs; but it was not long before they learnt to take a different view of the white man who had come among them.
In the middle of the Bechuana country, which is bordered on the west by the great Kalahari desert, lies a
