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CHAPTER X

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 August 2010

Robert Moffat
Affiliation:
London Missionary Society
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Summary

On our route homeward we halted at a spot where a novel scene once occurred, and which was described by an individual who witnessed it when a boy. Near a very small fountain, which was shown to me, stood a camel thorn-tree, (Acacia Giraffe.) It was a stiff tree, about twelve feet high, with a flat, bushy top. Many years ago, the relater, then a boy, was returning to his village, and having turned aside to the fountain for a drink, lay down on the bank, and fell asleep. Being awoke by the piercing rays of the sun, he saw, through the bush behind which he lay, a giraffe browsing at ease on the tender shoots of the tree, and, to his horror, a lion, creeping like a cat, only a dozen yards from him, preparing to pounce on his prey. The lion eyed the giraffe for a few moments, his body gave a shake, and he bounded into the air, to seize the head of the animal, which instantly turned his stately neck, and the lion, missing his grasp, fell on his back in the centre of the mass of thorns, like spikes, and the giraffe bounded over the plain. The boy instantly followed the example, expecting, as a matter of course, that the enraged lion would soon find his way to the earth.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010
First published in: 1842

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  • CHAPTER X
  • Robert Moffat, London Missionary Society
  • Book: Missionary Labours and Scenes in Southern Africa
  • Online publication: 29 August 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511695643.011
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  • CHAPTER X
  • Robert Moffat, London Missionary Society
  • Book: Missionary Labours and Scenes in Southern Africa
  • Online publication: 29 August 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511695643.011
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • CHAPTER X
  • Robert Moffat, London Missionary Society
  • Book: Missionary Labours and Scenes in Southern Africa
  • Online publication: 29 August 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511695643.011
Available formats
×