74 IN BRIGHTEST AFRICA 
in which he smelts the iron ore. With a hunk of 
granite for an anvil and another for a hammer he 
rough forges the spear. With soft iron hammers 
forged in a similar way he finishes the spear which is 
finally sharpened on native stones. With this equip- 
ment he starts out to kill the lion that has been prey- 
ing on his flocks or herds. He takes a great pride 
in the achievement, for he will make from the mane a 
headdress which his exploit entitles him to wear. Of 
course this does not happen just this way now, but 
the Nandi’s spearmen speared lions with the arms 
they made before the white men came. It is a fair 
contest between man and beast. And the courage 
and skill of these men are wonderful. 
Paul Rainey had aranch on the west shore of Lake 
Naivasha. One morning his boys reported to him 
that a lion had invaded the kraa/ the night before. 
He set out on horseback with a few of his dogs and 
two Masai herd boys with their spears. The dogs 
soon took up the spoor of the lion and brought him 
to bay under an acacia tree on the grassy plain. The 
sun had just risen above the hills on the other side 
of the lake. The long shadows of the table-top 
acacias lay across the plain, the lion underneath in 
full sunlight. Rainey jumped off his horse, threw the 
reins over a bush, and grabbed his rifle from its boot. 
He then saw the two Masai boys run on toward the 
lion. As they approached the lion, one threw his 
spear and missed. They were between him and the 
lion, and he could not shoot. The boys stood stock 
still till the lion was in mid-air in his final spring 
