FATAL ENCOUNTER WITH LIONS 117 



It is too often true that sportsmen who are 

 killed or are mortally wounded by lions have 

 placed their lives in jeopardy by following 

 wounded animals into thickets or into tall 

 grass, where the meeting is almost certain to be 

 at close range and unexpected. And yet many 

 an experienced lion-hunter has been mauled when 

 the conditions were such that an "accident" 

 as the English call a mauling seemed impossi- 

 ble. 



Some African tribes of natives do not hesitate 

 to attack lions with spears, even though they 

 know that usually it will result in the death or 

 serious injury of one or more of their party. 



We were camped in the Sotik country, on 

 the North N'Guasso Nyero River, where lions 

 were abundant. One afternoon a young En- 

 glishman named Chapman, who was travelling 

 through the country selling and trading sheep 

 with the Masai tribe, camped near by. We 

 spent a pleasant evening together, and during 

 the course of our conversation he mentioned 

 that he had never shot a lion, but was anxious 

 for an opportunity. He showed us an anti- 

 quated single-shot rifle and asked if we thought 

 it powerful enough to do the work. We ex- 



