THE LION 211 



Nandi and Masai find the leopard more formidable than the 

 lion in this kind of hunting. The Masai or Nandi spear is 

 made of soft iron and is given a fine saw edge by whetting 

 on a stone. This is a most effective cutting edge, being so 

 sharp that it cuts its way through the toughest hide. 



Among the horse-owning tribes of northern Africa there 

 are a few in which it is customary to kill not only the lion 

 but the elephant, rhinoceros, and buffalo from horseback 

 with the spear or sword, some using one weapon, some the 

 other. Of course, the spears and swords used in such hunts 

 are not dull and blunt like ordinary cavalry sabres kept in 

 metal scabbards; they have fine, carefully guarded points 

 and razor edges. 



Mr. Heller accompanied Paul Rainey on his African trip, 

 in which Mr. Rainey killed several score lions with his pack 

 of American bearhounds. Mr. Heller describes certain in- 

 cidents of this trip as follows: 



"The Loita Plains form a region of grassy veldt inter- 

 spersed by areas of scattered acacia scrub and dotted by 

 several high rocky kopjes which dominate the district. 

 These kopjes being both rocky and scrub-covered are used 

 as day retreats by the lions which have been attracted to the 

 district by the immense herds of game which graze on the 

 plains. The driving of one of these hills gave us the most 

 exciting lion hunt we experienced during the entire year's 

 safari with Paul J. Rainey. 



"Six months had been spent in a neighboring district 

 hunting lions with dogs until the pack were practically 

 annihilated. After the loss of all the best hounds or trail- 

 ers this form of sport had to be abandoned and lion driving 

 with porters was resorted to. Leaving the Amala River 



