The bank of the river was intersected by deep watercourses, and the
ground being extremely slippery from the rain which had fallen during
the night, I was unable to overtake him until he came to bay in a
patch of lofty dense reeds which grew on the lower bank, immediately
adjacent to the river's margin. I had brought out eleven of my dogs,
and before I could come up three of them were killed. On reaching the
spot I found it impossible to obtain the slightest glimpse of the
lion, although the ground favored me, I having the upper bank to stand
upon; so, dismounting from my horse, I tried to guess, from his horrid
growling, his exact position, and fired several shots on chance, but
none of these hit him. I then commenced pelting him with lumps of
earth and sticks, there being no stones at hand. This had the effect
of making him change his position, but he still kept in the densest
part of the reeds, where I could do nothing with him.
Presently my followers came up, who, as a matter of course, at once
established themselves safely in the tops of thorn trees. After about
ten minutes' bullying, the lion seemed to consider his quarters too
hot for him, and suddenly made a rush to escape from his persecutors,
continuing his course down along the edge of the river. The dogs,
however, again gave him chase, and soon brought him to bay in another
dense patch of reeds, just as bad as the last.
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