66 AFRICAN NATURE NOTES chap, hi 



but when travelling between Lakes Tanganyika 

 and Mweru, in November 1894, and when skirting 

 the northern end of the great Mweru Marsh — a 

 regular elephants' stronghold — my men suddenly 

 left me eit viasse — they were a raw set of men — 

 returning presently with elephant flesh. They then 

 told me that our guides having informed them that 

 they had that morning seen six hungry lions attack 

 and pull down a full-grown cow elephant, just ahead 

 of where we then were, they had left me so suddenly 

 in order to drive the lions off and get some meat. 

 Unfortunately, I did not see the lions myself, but 

 there could be no doubt about the truth of our 

 guides' statement, for I saw the lions' spoor and 

 the carcase of the dead elephant. The tusks were 

 very small, but my men brought them. They may 

 have weighed from four to five pounds each." 



As the tusks were so small, this elephant could 

 hardly have been a full-grown cow ; but it must 

 have been a good-sized animal, probably a young 

 cow about three-parts grown. It is a great pity 

 that Mr. Arnot did not examine the carcase care- 

 fully and ascertain exactly how the elephant had 

 been killed. As the natives, however, asserted 

 positively that they had seen six lions attack and 

 kill it, and as Mr. Arnot is fully convinced that their 

 story was true, I think it ought to be accepted as 

 a fact, especially as cases of full-grown elephants 

 having been killed by tigers in India and Burma 

 have been put on record. 



