28 AFRICAN ADVENTURE STORIES 



septic poisoning appears in a short time and the 

 patient is doomed. Our doctor attended three 

 cases of lion maulings within twelve hours after 

 the accidents happened, and, though he was pro- 

 vided with the proper medicines and instru- 

 ments, two of the men died from blood-poisoning. 



Our safari was so large and there were always 

 so many camp-fires burning at night that we 

 were not molested by lions. One night the 

 askari, or native ex-soldier who watched over 

 the camp and kept the fires burning when we 

 were in a lion country, woke us by firing his 

 rifle. I snatched my gun and ran out of the 

 tent. The askari was back by the grass hut 

 that the porters had built, as a protection 

 against lions, for the horses. He said that he 

 had shot at a lion that was prowling about the 

 camp. He watched it for some time, and, as it 

 circled around to the horse-shed, he supposed 

 that it intended to attack the animals, so he fired. 

 Several porters that ran from their tents saw 

 the beast, however, and they were confident that 

 it was a hyena. 



While camp-fires are acknowledged to be the 

 best protection at night against lions, there are 

 many instances where these cats have scarcely 



