244 THE MINDS AND MANNERS 



gasping they made no sounds. Never before had we witnessed 

 such a fearsome exhibition of insane hatred and rage. 



As soon as the horrified spectators could bring it about, the 

 wild fighters were separated; and strange to say, neither of 

 them was seriously injured. It was a drawn battle. 



It is quite difficult to weigh and measure the independent 

 and abstract courage inherent in any wild animal species. All 

 that can be done is to grope after the truth. On this subject 

 there can be almost as many different opinions as there are 

 species of wild animals. 



What animal will go farthest in daring and defying man, 

 even the man with a gun, in foraging for food? 



Unquestionably and indisputably, the lion. This is no idle 

 repetition of an old belief, or tradition. It is a fact; and we say 

 this, quite mindful of the records made by the grizzly bear, 

 the Alaskan brown bear, the tiger, the leopard and the jaguar. 



"The Man-Eaters of Tsavo" opened up a strange and new 

 chapter in the life history of the savage lion. That truthful 

 record of an astounding series of events showed the lion in an 

 attitude of permanent aggression, backed by amazing and 

 persistent courage. For several months in that rude con- 

 struction camp on the arid bank of the Tsavo River, where a 

 railway bridge was being constructed on the famous Uganda 

 Railway line of British East Africa, lions and men struggled 

 mightily and fought with each other, with living men as the 

 stakes of victory. The book written by Col. J. H. Patterson, 

 under the title mentioned above, tells a plain and simple story 

 of the nightly onslaughts of the lions, the tragedies suffered 

 from them, the constant, the desperate though often ill-con- 

 sidered efforts of the white engineers to protect the terrorized 

 black laborers, and finally the death of the man-eaters. During 

 a series of battles lasting four long months the two lions 

 killed and carried off a total of twenty-eight men! How many 

 natives were killed and not reported never will be known. The 

 most hair-raising episode of all had a comedy touch, and fortu- 



