A HUNTING TRIP TO LAKE CHIOTA. ' 27 



It is marvellous the wounds these small buck carry off, and I have seen some 

 wonderful instances of their tenacity of life. On the following day we heard a lion 

 roaring as we were getting up, although he was some distance off. 



Certain game such as hartebeest and reedbuck are very plentiful here, and lions 

 should not find much difficulty in getting meat. In such a country lions seldom 

 interfere with human beings ; and as a rule it is only in countries where game is 

 scarce that lions take to man-killing. 



M. shot a good bull gnu to-day with a very nice head. It is generally a mistake 

 two men shooting in the same country unless they know one another well and can 

 keep good-tempered notwithstanding the discomforts and worries of camp life. M. 

 and I got on well together, and in such a case it is a great pleasure having a 

 companion to talk about the day's sport over a nice camp fire in the evenings. On 

 this day I killed a hartebeest, and during an evening's stroll got three duikers. 



Starting early on January 4th, we made for Nafisi hill, seeing a lot of game 

 on the way and wounding a hartebeest which I had to follow for some distance 

 before I killed it. This animal dropped a great amount of blood, and although the 

 ■303, '275, and '256 rifles do not give wounds that bleed much, this is not always the 

 case, and I have found that there is usually quite enough blood to enable a wounded 

 beast to be spoored up. M. got a reedbuck. 



On the following day I got another hartebeest, and M. also killed one. About 

 8.30 a.m. I came on fairly fresh buffalo spoor and followed it for some hours, but 

 came on the spoor of natives whom I found were ahead of me, so I thought it useless 

 to go on. My men and myself started to cross the big dambo here when I heard 

 a furious grunting behind, in a patch of grass. 



I had handed over my rifle a few minutes before and was walking ahead ; on 

 turning round, I saw a lion in the patch of grass. Standing still I held out my hand 

 for the rifle, and the man carrying it behaved very pluckily and came with it, 

 passing the lion, which was between the men and myself. Just as I got it in 

 my hand the lion broke away, and settled down to a fast walk. Instead of waiting 

 until he came to a stand, which I think he would sooa have done, I fired a hasty shot 

 and made a miss, and before I could pump another cartridge into the chamber he 

 was out of sight in the thick bush. I ran after him as hard as I could go, but never 

 got another glimpse of him. 



I think this was one of the unhappiest moments of my life, for it was a bitter 

 moment to have a lion within a few yards and not have rifle to shoot him with. 

 However, it gave me a lesson I have not forgotten, for I never part with my rifle now; 

 but I have not had such a splendid chance at a lion since. He was a light-coloured 



