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Wild Beasts and Their Ways

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me, and my two men were keeping well together. There could be no doubt that the carcase of the buffalo was not far off, and it was highly probable that the lions would be in forcible possession. We crept forward with extreme caution. The faint and disagreeable smell increased, and was almost insupportable. I presently heard the cracking of a bone, and there could be no doubt that the lions were close at hand. I once more looked round to see if my men were coming on; they were both close up. We crept noiselessly forward for a few yards, and suddenly a dark object appeared to block the tunnel; in another moment I distinguished the grand head and dark mane of a noble lion on the other side of a mass which proved to be the remains of the bull buffalo; another head, of a lioness, arose upon the right, and at the same instant, with a tremendous roar, the scene changed before I had time to fire. We were alone with the remains of the buffalo, and I believe three lions had decamped, never to be seen again in the obscurity of the dense green nabbuk. We were actually in possession, having driven the lions from their prey, simply by our cautious advance, without a shot. It required some time and trouble to cut off the head of that bull buffalo in the narrow limits of the lion's den, but it hangs upon my walls now as a trophy that might be won from a lion, but never could have been wrested in the same manner from a tiger. Upon another occasion I crept in a similar manner into one of their dark tunnels, and shot the lion within a distance of four paces, but I never recovered the body, as the animal bounded into the dense thorny substance, which it was impossible for any human being to penetrate. The Hamran Arabs persuaded me to discontinue this kind of exploration, and my Tokrooris having taken the same view of the performance, I gave up the practice, as I did not succeed in actually bagging a lion by the attempt. In the locality which I have mentioned, the lions, although numerous, were never regarded as dangerous unless attacked; there was an abundance of game, therefore the carnivora were plentifully supplied, and a large area of country being entirely uninhabited, the lions were unaccustomed to the sight of human beings, and held them in respect. During the night we took the precaution to light extensive bonfires within our camp, which was well protected by a circular fence of impenetrable thorns, but we were never threatened by wild animals except upon one occasion. I was strolling in search of food, with a particular two-grooved single rifle No. 14 which was extremely accurate. Having shot a nellut (A. Strepsiceros), the animal was fixed upon a camel and immediately forwarded to camp, towards which I advanced by a circuitous direction in the expectation of finding other game. The country was perfectly flat in the vicinity of the river, and although much covered with dense bush, it was interspersed with numerous small glades, covered with parched herbage 2 or 3 feet in height. A few Tokrooris accompanied me with spare rifles (all muzzle-loaders, as the breech action had not been introduced in those days), and I was leading the way, occasionally breaking through the intervening bush, with as little noise as possible. Suddenly, as I was only half emerged from a line of dark green nabbuk, I was surprised by a short roar close to me, and I immediately saw the shoulders and the hinder portion of a lion, the head being concealed by the bush, from which I had not completely emerged. I could have touched it by stretching out my rifle, but personally I was quite unobserved. There was not a moment to lose, and I fired through the centre of the shoulder. With a short roar the lion disappeared; there was a rushing sound in the bushes, and almost immediately another lion occupied the exact position that had been quitted by the lioness. They must have been lying down together when startled by our appearance, or rather by the noise of our approach. This was a splendid chance, but I was unloaded; I stretched my right arm behind me, expecting to receive a spare rifle from my faithful Tokrooris, but they had retreated from the scene, and I remained within 6 feet of a lion's flank with an unloaded rifle and no companion. The lion's head and neck were quite concealed by the dense green bush, and I had no other course to pursue than to reload my rifle. The first tap that I gave the bullet when ramming it home, scared the lion, and with a loud roar it sprang forward and disappeared. My recreant followers now returned, and having administered a few kicks, I took a double-barrelled rifle and we commenced a strict search for the wounded animal. Directed by a low moan, we found her within a few yards, dying; it was a lioness, but there was no trace of her companion, which had been so lately within my reach. The spare camel was now brought up, and with great difficulty my three Tokrooris, the Hamran Arab, and myself succeeded in placing the lioness across the saddle, having first opened and cleaned the body to reduce the weight. Blood trickled from the carcase, and dropped upon the ground, thus forming a trace throughout the route until we reached the camp. The lioness was 9 feet 1 inch in length, and, when skinned, the body was dragged to a considerable distance and left for the hyenas. The fires were blazing after sunset; the horses of my Hamran hunters, and my own, were picqueted within the centre of our enclosure, near the tent, and we were about to retire for the night, when a deep guttural sigh was heard close to the high and impervious fence of kittur thorns. This had been carefully constructed, as life was most uncertain within that questionable district, where the Arab hunting parties invariably killed all natives of the crafty Base tribe whenever met, and they incurred a similar retaliation. The fence was made of entire trees cut off near the roots, and then dragged by the stems into line, with their wide-spreading heads of sharp hooked thorns forming the outside surface; these were locked together by their hooks, entangled, and nothing could possibly have broken through, except an elephant or rhinoceros. Prowling around this excellent protection was a lion, who was pronounced by my hunters to be the mate of the lioness which I had killed; it was

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