26 In the Heart of Africa 



and lions alone were to be fired at — the elephant is never met 

 with in these parts — I knew that the shots could only mean 

 buffalo or lion. So I turned back hurriedly, and soon caught 

 sight of Wintgens accompanied by two Askari coming towards 

 me with rifles at the ready. " Bana Lieutenant amepiga simba " 

 (" the Herr Lieutenant has shot a lion ") shouted an Askari from 

 the distance. 



" Where is he hiding ? " I asked. 



" I do not know ; we have lost him here by the mountain." 



" Did he not stand up in front of you ? " 



" No ; and we have not seen the grass moving either." 



" Then he must be close by." 



" Quite near, ba?ia." 



There could be no doubt that the lion was lying between 

 Wintgens and me. It seemed almost as if his pursuers had 

 passed over him as he was crouching in the grass. As Wintgens 

 came up with me without sighting the quarry, the latter possibility 

 was the only feasible one. Having snatched my gun from the 

 hands of my boy, who had rushed up breathless, we placed our 

 followers in position again, and walked back across the same 

 locality. Suddenly one of the Askari at my side stopped sharply, 

 and, with characteristic gesture, pointed his index-finger half 

 right to where the steppe merged into the tall reed-grass by the 

 river, and, snapping finger and thumb together, yelled out with 

 eyes staring and a long-drawn " aa-aa-aa,'' " Tasama, batia 

 sultani, simba wengi, u-engi sana " (" Look, bana sultani, many, 

 many lions! "). Indeed, I actually beheld five lions hurrying to 

 the protecting river with that heavy, slouching gait peculiar 

 to their kind. This meant a good, smart run for us if we were 

 to cut off their retreat, for once in the high sedge they were as 

 good as lost. As the troop happened to be nearest Wintgens, he 

 got there first. With one shot through the head, he finished the 

 earthly career of a lioness. One of the others, which spun round, 

 vanished into the reeds. With two Askari and a boy I followed 

 up a third trail, which showed distinctly in the grass for a 

 few hundred feet till it disappeared in the bush. We now circled 



