A TROOP OF LIONS 



while he stood gazing at it. During these four days we 

 made three short marches, the last one over a low pass 

 into the w^atershed of the Shunfar. Eji route, we passed 

 Maharbra Selassee, a hill and church, to which the 

 Abyssinians make pilgrimage once a year to attend a 

 festival. 



On 23rd May we continued our way down the valley, 

 crossing recent tracks of elephant, buffalo, and roan, to 

 the banks of the Shunfar, where the water lay in large 

 pools on a shingly bed. Just as we reached the water's 

 edge, I saw a tawny -coloured animal spring up the 

 opposite bank into long dead grass. " Lion ! Libah ! 

 Ambassa ! " came from our lips in chorus, as I made a 

 rush for a rifle, but I was only just in time to see a 

 lioness dash away from behind some trees. Leaving 

 Omer with the mule, I crossed the river-bed with Ali, 

 Hyde, the local shikari, and the would-be elephant-slayer, 

 and found the tracks of a troop of five lions in the sand 

 on the opposite side. Telling the two Abyssinians to 

 keep well behind us, I took the. 400. while Ali shouldered 

 the 12 B. Paradox and Hyde the .256. The beasts, 

 which had scattered when w^e disturbed them, soon 

 collected again, and walked up a sandy little nulla, along 

 which we followed for a quarter of an hour, till we 

 reached a patch of long grass. Suddenly Ali touched 

 my arm and pointed to the foot of a tree, where, through 

 my glasses I made out a lion crouching with its head 

 framed by the water-washed roots of the tree. The 

 animal looked to me to be only a cub, but as Ali muttered 

 " big one," I took aim at where I thought its head should 

 be and fired, just as I caught sight of a lioness walking 



