l8 HUNTING TRIPS IN NORTHERN RHODESIA. 



have good manes, which is probably due to the heat of the country they hve in, 

 semi-starvation at times, and the rough country they go through. 



Menagerie Hons usually have splendid manes, which is doubtless due to the 

 cold, and regular feeding. When really hungry there is no more dangerous beast 

 than a lion, for he will dare anything to get food. In this country they are more 

 dangerous in the rainy season, when the game is scarce and scattered, and difficult 

 to hunt in the long grass. It is at this season that lions usually come to native 

 villages, and break open huts, or take women from the gardens. 



They will sometimes come to cattle kraals, or pig and sheep pens, and try to 

 break in, so it is usual to guard these with a plentiful supply of thorn branches. 



Lions are dirty feeders, and will always prefer to eat game that they have found, 

 to killing a beast themselves, and it does not matter how rotten the meat is, as long 

 as it is there. 



They do not kill everything they attack, for often animals are shot which have 

 escaped from a lion. I have shot a number of zebra, three roan antelopes, and a 

 sable which had escaped from lions after being badly marked. 



Lions are very fond of zebra, eland, and buffalo, and I should imagine that a 

 bull of the latter species would put up a very good fight with a lion. In attacking 

 buffalo, I fancy lions go for the calves and females whenever possible, and leave the 

 old bulls alone. Besides the animals mentioned, lions seem to like pig flesh, and on 

 several occasions I have found the remains of warthogs killed by them. They will 

 eat anything, and when pressed by hunger will take a human being whenever the 

 opportunity offers, so it is unwise to go out on dark, rainy nights without a lamp and 

 rifle. Lions prefer to use a footpath to going through the bush, and even with a rifle 

 one would have little chance, for the beast would likely be on the top of one before 

 the rifle could be raised. The lamp might frighten him, but hungry lions have 

 been known to disregard fires when they attacked camps at night. 



I once saw the remains of a woman who had been killed in a hut by a 

 man-eating lion. I followed him next day and put him up twice in high, thick 

 grass, but could not get a shot. 



Dark, rainy nights are the worst time for lions, and when they are hungry they 

 make no sound. When lions are heard roaring they have generally fed, and are not 

 dangerous. Natives are very careless, and will go to sleep and let their fires burn 

 low, although they know people have been taken near. I remember one night, when 

 sleeping on elephant spoor close to a small pool of water, a lion came grunting 

 past in the dark and passed within twenty yards of where we were lying. I blew up 

 the fire, but not one of the five men with me woke up. The lion on this occasion 



