With Flashlight and Rifle ^ 



experiences are exasperating to the hunter, but it is some- 

 thing for the mere observer to have had the monopoly of 

 so wonderful a spectacle. The same kind of thing, on a 

 lesser scale, happened to me often in East Africa. 



I was particularly unlucky on one occasion when I 

 encountered the finest and oldest lion I have ever seen. 

 It was while I was stalking waterbuck that he came into 

 sia^ht. Half-hidden as he was in the bush, I could not at first 

 make out what kind of animal he was. In another second 

 he came into full view, only to turn round immediately and 

 make oft. My bullet was too late ; but a scanty streak 

 of blood showed me that it had not completely missed him. 

 Great were my annoyance and disappointment about a fort- 

 night later to learn that the remains of a larQe-maned lion 

 had been found near this spot. They were lying in so 

 dense a thicket that even the vultures had not been able to 

 get at him. The ftesh had been completely devoured by 

 maggots ; but from the extraordinary number of long 

 hairs I could see that it must have had a wonderful mane, 

 almost black. However, I got possession of its mighty 

 skull, from which some teeth were missing, proving that 

 it must have been of considerable age. I cannot say abso- 

 lutely that this must have been the lion at which I had 

 shot, but it certainly seems most probable. 



Among the thirty-seven lions which I caught by means 

 of the iron trap manufactured by R. Weber, there were 

 several strong, old specimens which had dragged away 

 the traps for several miles. The killing- of them entailed 

 very difficult and dangerous pursuits, as in these circum- 

 stances they almost always made lor cover. 



392 



