It was therefore with the full intention to make a retreat that the noble beast regarded the human circle, till, by its growing smaller and smaller, gradually hemming him in, he appeared quickly to guess their intent, and, with a terrific roar of rage, turned fiercely upon them. Having excited him up to this point, one of the Kaffirs, advancing before the rest, shook the plumes on his assagai provokingly in his face, when, to my terror, he rose suddenly up, and, with the litheness of a cat, made a wondrous bound at his adversary. I could have declared the poor fellow was done for; but with an agility equal to the lion's, or to a monkey's, the hunter struck the spear of his assagai in the ground and nimbly leaped aside, so that the powerful paw of the beast fell with a force upon the feathered head of the weapon, which too well proved what the fate of the man would have been had he stood in its place. At the same moment a shower of spears assailed him from the rear, hurled by the enemy behind. Uttering a terrific roar, turning, he flew savagely at his nearest assailant, who performed the same rapid feat as the first, while another cloud of weapons shot through the air. From the distant bush I watched this strange and most dangerous method of hunting--dangerous truly, for even as I looked I perceived one of the men, taken off his guard by an abrupt swerve of the lion, fail in striking his spear and in his leap aside. The next moment the large paw had fallen on the hunter's head with so awful a blow that it must instantly have dislocated the spine, such, they say, being the way these animals have when seizing their prey. The poor fellow dropped as if struck by a thunderbolt, while the strong white teeth of the lion fastened immediately upon his shoulder. The rest of the hunters, quickly seizing the opportunity, sent assagai after assagai, till, bleeding from numerous wounds, and giving one final roar, the brute sank dead by the side of his victim. I ran forward instantly, as did the others, to find life extinct both in man and beast. Save the wound of the cruel teeth in the shoulder, the body of the Kaffir showed no other disfigurement, but looked as calm as if in sleep. His death did not seem much to concern his companions. No doubt they had expected some such event, and perhaps rejoiced that only one had fallen under the paw of the kingly brute; for a lion hunt frequently ends far less fortunately. Therefore slinging the beast over their shoulders, we returned to the kraal, where we laid our prize at the chief's feet. It was a few days after this that, calling an assembly of his head warriors, Metilulu informed them that it was his will that on the next day a war party should depart to attack a distant tribe, from whose chief he affirmed he had received a most grievous insult.