XIII THROUGH LAIKIPIA 



'57 



arrived no less than five elephants were shot l)y a 

 party of sportsmen within a mile of the iJoma. 

 Once in the grey dawn I watched a Hue old lion 

 take refuge among the cool recesses of the pap)riis 

 grass which covers its entire surface. Another time 

 as I was riding back to camp in the dusk I suddenly 

 came upon a lioness. I took a quick shot at her but 

 missed, and she immediately disappeared in the 

 gloom. 



Leopards are very numerous in the neighbour- 

 hood, and I counted no less than seven of these 

 beasts of prey in one afternoon. They are at times 

 very dangerous, and the officer in charge at 

 Rumuruti told me that they sometimes carry off 

 native children. A leopard is at all times a nasty 

 brute to tackle, as when wounded it is not con- 

 tent with springing on and wounding one person 

 but will dash with lightning-like rapidity from one 

 to another, biting and tearing, until it has put its 

 teeth and claws into everybody within reach. 



A curious incident which happened at Nairobi 

 not long ago will show how very audacious these 

 brutes can sometimes be. The official in whose 

 house it happened, himself gave me all the details 

 when I went to visit him soon after my arrival in 

 East Africa. It seems that his daughter was one 

 morning sitting playing the piano in the drawing- 

 room. He happened to go into the room at 



