LIONS 19 



tection from the sun. Here they remain until 

 late in the afternoon, and it is in such places that 

 the hunter is most liable to find them and from 

 there with his retinue of porters can drive them 

 into the open. 



Lions were far more numerous than we had 

 expected and I well remember when Colonel 

 Roosevelt remarked to Sir Alfred Pease: "I do 

 hope that I shall be able to get a lion or a 

 lioness, it makes no difference which." Yet, in 

 all, he and Kermit bagged seventeen, and even I 

 after a narrow escape from being mauled 

 managed to kill one. 



With the exception of crocodiles, lions kill 

 more people in Africa than all the so-called 

 dangerous animals combined. There are several 

 reasons for this: First, more sportsmen hunt 

 lions than other dangerous game. Second, they 

 are more numerous in close proximity to man 

 than other fierce animals. Third, when wounded 

 they do not hesitate to charge and rarely turn 

 back. Fourth, because some of them acquire 

 the man-eating habit. 



The mortality among the natives from man- 

 eating lions is, of course, very great, but the 

 blacks alone are to blame. They are a simple, 



