210 AFRICAN GAME ANIMALS 



in roping the lioness implies much greater daring, skill, and 

 risk than is normally attendant upon shooting a lion. The 

 same is true of killing a lion with spears, after the fashion 

 of the Masai and Nandi. In this kind of hunting, however, 

 much depends on the type of spear. It happens that the 

 long, very heavy, narrow spearheads of the East African 

 cattle-owning foot-nomads are much better suited for this 

 particular sport than the light spears of the equally fearless 

 and gallant Zulus to the south of them and Somalis to the 

 north of them. In Somaliland the lions subsist largely, and 

 often mainly, on the flocks and herds of the Somalis, and 

 frequently become man-eaters; but the Somalis only attack 

 them under exceptional circumstances, for their spears, 

 formidable enough against men, are too light for lions, and 

 the danger to the lives of the hunters in the contest is very 

 great. The Zulus also ring and kill lions with their spears, 

 in the Nandi and Masai fashion, but their spears are, for 

 this purpose, much inferior, and in the fight men are far more 

 often killed and mauled than is the case in middle East 

 Africa. We saw the Nandi spearmen kill a big-maned lion; 

 he mauled two of their number; but a couple of days pre- 

 viously they had killed two lions without getting a scratch. 

 Akeley saw ten lions thus killed and only one man was 

 hurt. Men are rarely killed in these contests. This is 

 because the Nandi and Masai spears are so heavy that they 

 drive right through the lion, and into his life, from any 

 angle; the first spear driven into the big-maned lion above 

 mentioned entered at his left shoulder and came out through 

 his right flank near the hip. In consequence a single spear 

 will not infrequently kill a lion. For lighter and more agile 

 foes the spear is too heavy and slow, and for this reason the 



