68 IN BRIGHTEST AFRICA 
his lion hounds. I call them lion hounds for they 
chased lions—that is the only thing the pack had in 
common. It included curs, collies, airedales, bear 
hounds from the South, and almost every other kind 
of canine. When Rainey and the hounds appeared, 
the Governor of East Africa remarked that the lions 
were going to get some good dog meat. But within 
a couple of years “hounding lions” was stopped be- 
cause the lions fell too easy a prey to the hounds and 
hunters. When Rainey took his hounds there no 
one was certain how the lions would act, and it was a 
sporting thing to try. But it soon developed—and 
Rainey, who is a thorough sportsman, was one of the 
first to see it—that the hounds kept the lion so busy 
once he was brought to bay that the hunter could ap- 
proach and take as many shots as necessary with 
almost perfect immunity from a charge. It is not 
quite accurate to say that Rainey introduced the 
practice of hunting lions with dogs. Foa, the French 
traveller, speaks of the practice ten years before 
Rainey went to Africa. He even tried to organize a 
pack. His pack failed. But the principle of having 
dogs keep the lions so busy that they would not 
charge, he described completely. 
Besides these daylight methods of hunting it was 
a common practice to hunt lions at night by baiting— 
that is, to kill an animal and hide near it in the hope 
that a lion would come to eat, and then shoot him. 
There is not much danger in this, for the thorn domas, 
or hiding places, are a good protection, and the lion 
would not be likely to attack any one unless he was 
