CH. Ill] LIONS AND THEUl PREY 69 



worth their while to eluillenge such formidal^le (iiinrry. 

 Every " kill " I saw was a kongoni or a zebra ; probably 

 I came across fifty of each. One zebra kill, which was 

 not more than eighteen hours old (after the lapse of 

 that tune the vultures and marabouts, not to speak 

 of the hyenas and jackals, leave only the bare bones), 

 showed just what had occurred. The bones were all in 

 place, and the skin still on the lower legs and head. 

 The animal was lying on its belly, the legs spread out, 

 the neck vertebrae crushed. Evidently the lion had 

 sprung clean on it, bearing it down by his weight, while 

 he bit through the back of the neck, and the zebra's 

 legs had spread out as the body yielded under the lion. 

 One fresh kongoni kill showed no marks on the haunches, 

 but a broken neck and claw-marks on the face and 

 withers ; in this case the lion's hind-legs had remained 

 on the ground, w^hile with his fore-paws he grasped the 

 kongoni's head and shoulders, holding it until the teeth 

 splintered the neck-bone. 



One or two of our efforts to get lions failed, of course ; 

 the ravines we beat did not contain them, or we failed 

 to make them leave some particularly difficult hill or 

 swamp — for lions lie close. But Sir Alfred knew just 

 the right place to go to, and was bound to get us lions — 

 and he did. 



One day we started from the ranch-house in good 



season for an all-day lion hunt. Besides Kermit and 



I myself, there w^as a fellow-guest, JNledlicott, and not 



' only our host, but our hostess and her daughter ; and 



we were joined by Percival at lunch, which we took 



under a great fig-tree, at the foot of a high, rocky hill. 



I Percival had with him a little mongrel bulldog and a 



' Masai " boy," a fine, bold-looking savage, with a liand- 



, some head-dress and the usual formidable spear. Master, 



