THE REDISCOVERED COUNTRY 135 



was again scrambling up the steep side, growling 

 horribly. My third shot broke his foreleg. Steady- 

 ing, I raked him from end to end. He rolled over on 

 his side still growling and roaring, biting the ground. 

 I watched him closely for further trouble, but after a 

 moment he died. Memba Sasa was standing close to 

 my left elbow, the Springfield cocked, five .405 car- 

 tridges spread ready fanwise in his left hand. 



There succeeded the brief dead pause that always 

 seems to follow a lion row. Then we shouted. The 

 cry was instantly answered by Sanguiki and his men. 

 They had probably been standing with held breath 

 awaiting the first definite indication of how the fight 

 was going. Certainly there must have been enough 

 to listen to, what with the repeated detonations 

 of the heavy gun and the snarls and growls of the 

 lion. 



We tried to carry the dead lion into the shade, but 

 were unable to lift him. Therefore we constructed a 

 shelter of boughs. A lion's skin is a tricky affair, and 

 must be handled immediately and carefully. He was 

 a magnificent creature with a thick long black and 

 tawny mane, better than any other wild lion I ever 

 saw, and almost equal to a menagerie beast.* Never 

 expected to get anything so good. Stood three feet 

 seven inches at shoulder; nine feet three inches straight 



* In mane. In physique a wild Kon is almost always bigger than a 

 menagerie lion. 



