One of the residents in South Africa--according to the Naturalist's
History--shot a lion in the most perilous circumstances that can be
conceived. We must tell the story in his own words. "My wife," he says,
"was sitting in the house, near the door. The children were playing
around her. I was outside, busily engaged in doing something to a wagon,
when suddenly, though it was mid-day, an enormous lion came up and laid
himself quietly down in the shade, upon the very threshold of the door.
My wife, either stupefied with fear, or aware of the danger attending
any attempt to fly, remained motionless in her place, while the children
took refuge in her lap. The cry they uttered immediately attracted my
attention. I hastened toward the door; but my astonishment may well be
conceived, when I found the entrance to it barred in such a way.
Although the animal had not seen me, unarmed as I was, escape seemed
impossible; yet I glided gently, scarcely knowing what I meant to do, to
the side of the house, up to the window of my chamber, where I knew my
loaded gun was standing, and which I found in such a condition, that I
could reach it with my hand--a most fortunate circumstance; and still
more so, when I found that the door of the room was open, so that I
could see the whole danger of the scene. The lion was beginning to move,
perhaps with the intention of making a spring. There was no longer any
time to think.
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