Lake Victoria to Khartoum 



bush. They must have spotted either the stalk- 

 ing lion or myself and bolted. That is very 

 likely what had helped to put the lion off his 

 stroke, as far as I was concerned. The neck shot 

 never actually kills the animal on the spot, as was 

 proved again on this occasion ; but it renders 

 him completely hors de combat. 



I went up behind and gave him a prod in the 

 neck with the rifle, and he just managed to half 

 raise his head with a low growl, so I gave him an 

 extra one to finish him off. He was a very big 

 lion as regards size, but a young one judging by 

 his teeth, and fearfully thin, poor brute. We laid 

 him out, skinned him on the spot, took the skin 

 straight back to camp, pegged it out in the sun, 

 and thoroughly dressed it with dry wood ashes. 

 It is most necessary to take great pains with 

 a lion's skin, particularly on the part where the 

 whiskers and mane grow, as the hair is more 

 liable to come out than in the case of any other 

 animal, I think. The claws also have to be care- 

 fully cleaned both inside and out. 



The story of the last day of my stay here at 

 Meshra Zeraf is also interesting, as yet another 

 lion bit the dust. This time I was taking round 

 two friends, W. and P., to try and show them 

 a roan, as having spent a week here I considered 

 that I knew the best places in which to find them. 

 W. was on his honeymoon with his wife, shoot- 

 ing hard as well, and P. had joined them for 



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