260 STALKS ABROAD 



a lion roaring and moaning within a short distance 

 of camp. I was feeling very shaky, and fancy I 

 must have had a slight touch of sun, but about 

 one o'clock reached the ferry over the Tana, within 

 four miles of Fort Hall. The plain was swarming 

 with hartebeest, and I shot one, the first and last 

 animals I killed in Africa thus belonging to this ugly 

 species of antelope. 



A few days later we reached Nairobi. Before leav- 

 ing I heard one amusing yarn. The hero was a 

 certain traveller in boots. I met him subsequently at 

 Mombasa, where in a green Tyrolean hat, he filled 

 to his own satisfaction, at any rate, and that of a 

 skittish German baroness of doubtful origin with a 

 penchant for liqueurs, the role of a retired diplomat. 



He had arrived in Africa quite prepared to find 

 the main street of Nairobi swarming with game, with 

 lions lying in wait at every corner. He was offensively 

 full of bounce, and certain residents got decidedly sick 

 of him. 



A shooting party, having with them, amongst 

 other impedimenta, a baby lion-cub which roamed 

 about more or less at will, had passed through the 

 town shortly before his arrival. The commercial 

 traveller's great fear was lions. He was never tired 

 of asking questions about them, their habits, method 

 of seizing prey, &c. 



One night in the bar he was pursuing his usual topic. 



" I suppose," said he, " there are lions in the 

 streets at night ? " 



