THE LION 215 



ever, she was so broken down by the numerous body shots 

 that she was only able to shamble along and quite Incapa- 

 ble of doing any damage. 



" The troop after passing me was overtaken by Rainey 

 and his mounted men and six of the lions were shot. After 

 firing had begun the danger from attack was greatly in- 

 creased, owing to the number of wounded animals concealed 

 in the scattered bushy country. The horsemen unwittingly 

 rode quite close to some of these dangerous beasts, but es- 

 caped injury by rapid firing or retreat. Three of the fleeing 

 lions ran through the camp and were fired upon by the 

 askaris on guard. The morning's bag netted nine lions, 

 three of which were large lionesses and the others maneless 

 lions. 



" An attempt was made in the afternoon to beat out the 

 two large maned lions which had retreated to the hill. 

 They, however, could not be found, owing without doubt 

 to their wisdom in fleeing far away and not stopping in the 

 vicinity of the hill from which they had been driven in the 

 morning. 



" I was greatly surprised to catch lions in steel traps set 

 for hyenas baited with carcasses. Four lions were caught 

 in this manner on the Rainey safari, all within the space 

 of a few months. This very much astonished me, for I had 

 used the same methods of trapping and the same traps for 

 two years in the region without experiencing a single in- 

 stance of the kind. The traps used are ridiculously small, 

 the jaws being very little greater in diameter than the paw 

 of a lion, and the weight only about six pounds. They are 

 so small that it is only possible to catch a lion by a single 

 toe or at most by two toes. 



