CHAP. V. LIONS. 245 



cactus thorns which pricked his naked legs and feet. A 

 curious sight it was in the deep gloom of the jungle, where 

 the scorching sun overhead could only penetrate with an 

 occasional beam, to see this naked savage dancing round 

 the mighty body, holding his clubbed gvm aloft, and 

 chanting wild songs, interrupted with long strings of the 

 " strong names " of his ancestral spirits who had brought 

 him through the danger,- — a sight to be remembered, and 

 one only to be seen by those who penetrate the wilds of 

 Africa. 



An instance of a lion, not a man-eater, attacking a 

 human being through hunger, occurred to me personally, 

 and as the story also affords a remarkable instance of 

 their hunting in concert it may be worth relating, though 

 it did not end in the death of the animal. I was return- 

 ing from the river Pongolo to my camp on the Nkwa- 

 vuma, and my carriers being heavily laden it was deter- 

 mined to sleep at some water-holes half way, and as but 

 one hunter accompanied me, and we had to find food for 

 some thirty or forty men, we were forced to hunt the 

 whole distance. The country between the rivers is mostly 

 open flats, though in places there are some of the very 

 worst patches of ukaku I ever saw ; the trees growing 

 almost as close together as reeds, and not a single one 

 reaching above six feet from the ground, while the tangle 

 of thorns is so great that, except by following the paths, 

 often cul-de-sacs, which the game has formed, all progress 

 would be utterly impossible. 



Black rhinoceros in the thorns, and large herds of gnu 

 and zebra on the flats, are the principal animals, at least 

 during the winter season, when most of the water-holes 



