THE GUASO NYERO 285 



so that Kermit missed her twice, but broke her shoulder 

 high up when she was but thirty yards off. She fell on 

 her head and, on rising, galloped, not at the men, but at 

 the horses, who, curiously enough, paid no heed to her. 

 Tarlton stopped her with a bullet in the nick of time, just 

 before she reached them, and with another bullet Kermit 

 killed her. Two days later they came on the remaining 

 cubs and the wounded lioness, and Kermit killed the 

 latter; but they let the cubs go, feeling it unsportsman- 

 like to kill them a feeling which I am by no means cer- 

 tain I share, for lions are scourges not only to both wild 

 and tame animals, but to man himself. 



Kermit also rode down and killed two cheetahs and a 

 serval, and got a bad tumble while chasing a jackal, his 

 horse turning a complete somersault through a thorny bush. 

 This made seven cheetahs that he had killed, a record un- 

 equalled for any other East African trip of the same length; 

 and the finding and galloping down of these cheetahs-going 



*flflSjEQ0M^"^^ 



at breakneck speed over any and every Rind of ground, 

 and then shooting them either from foot or horseback- 

 made one of the noteworthy features of our trip. One 

 of these two cheetahs had just killed a steinbuck. The 

 serval was with its mate, and Kermit watched them for 

 some time through his glasses before following them. There 

 was one curious feature of their conduct. One of them 

 was playing about, now near the other, now leaving it; 

 and near by was a bustard, which it several times pretended 

 to stalk, crawling toward it a few yards, and then standing 

 up and walking away. The bustard paid no heed to it; 

 and, more singular still, two white-necked ravens lit close 

 to it, within a few yards on either side; the serval sitting 



