A LION-SPEARING SAFARI. 423 



the quarry. Every mau went to liis allotted position, an ^ the 

 circle slowly closed in on the snarling beast^ which swished his 

 tail and kept up a continual roaring. 



The warriors drew to within some twenty yards of him, and 

 the horsemen closed up to see the kill, yet remained at a sufficient 

 distance not to interfere with the spearmen's movements. Three 

 times the lion made a savage charge at the now stationary warriors, 

 but stopped short each time, with mane bristling, roaring in 

 impotent rage at his tormentors. Again the attacking party 

 advanced to within ten yards of their victim. One last desperate 

 effort, and he drove directly at the line, only to fall with ten spears 

 quivering in his body. But in that brief moment he managed to 

 drag down one of the natives, his claws sinking into the man's 

 flesh. 



INCENSED AT THE KING'S DEATH. 



The death of the king seemed to awaken all the fire in the 

 warriors' blood. They began a dance of triumph around the body, 

 waving their blood-stained spears, some of which were bent by the 

 force of the shock, holding their shields above their heads and 

 shouting forth blood-curdling yells in the excess of their savage 

 joy over the victory. 



In the meantime the injured man was being given medical 

 attention, and he bore the pain of his wounds without a sign of 

 concern. He who had first jabbed his spear through the lion 

 joined in the dance at the start, but soon retired at a distance, 

 where he seated himself, apparently indifferent to the antics of his 

 fellows. He was now a leader of men and must, therefore, show 

 no sign that he had done anything out of the ordinar3^ 



The luck of Kermit Roosevelt had been proverbial. While 

 Colonel Roosevelt was hunting with Lord Delamere, Kermit went 

 off with R. B. Cole and his Wanderobo warriors. The Wanderobos 

 are adepts at killing bango, which are very rare and only to be 

 found in the forests. In a short space of time the younger Roose- 

 velt had secured a large and fine specimen of the female bango. 



This was 9 ^pi*t that any older hunter might justly be proud 



