ix THE LION 181 



classes in the Soudan. He had discovered that no legitimate 

 commerce was possible with the savages of the White Nile ; he 

 had therefore advised his employer to that effect, and he had 

 resigned all hope of effecting the original object of his expedition. 

 He was therefore carrying on a business with the native merchants, 

 from whom he purchased gum-arabic from Kordofan, ivory from 

 the White Nile, hides from the Arabs generally, cotton, and 

 cereals, all of which, as opportunity offered, he either sent down 

 the river or across the Korosko desert to Egypt proper. 



We were talking about lions, and he told me the following 

 account of what he witnessed as he was returning from the White 

 Nile upon the steamer, then en route towards Khartoum. 



The dry season was at its height ; all the high grass and other 

 herbage along the river's banks had been burnt by the natives, 

 and the surface of the earth was black and bare. The steamer 

 was going easily down stream, saving her fuel, and as they floated 

 along, with the paddles revolving slowly, a lion was observed upon 

 the dark and lately blackened bank. The vessel was at once 

 stopped, and a trustworthy Tokroori hunter of Lafargue's volun- 

 teered to shoot the lion. The man was confident ; accordingly he 

 was put ashore, armed only with a single-barrelled rifle. 



From the poop-deck of the steamer the whole affair was dis- 

 tinctly visible. They saw the bold Tokroori advance unconcernedly 

 towards the lion, which, although standing when first observed, 

 now immediately crouched. The Tokroori advanced until he was 

 only a few yards distant : he then halted, and fired. With a loud 

 roar the lion flew to the attack, and with a terrific blow it struck 

 the hunter upon the shoulder. The effect was awful ; the man 

 was dashed violently upon the ground, and the lion fell across his 

 body ; after a few gasps it rolled over and died. The Tokroori 

 never moved. 



The steamer was now run alongside the bank, and Monsieur 

 Lafargue, with a number of men, quickly went ashore. Both the 

 Tokroori and the lion were quite dead. The bullet had struck 

 the animal in the chest, and had passed through the heart. The 

 Tokroori's arm was hanging from the hip ! It had not only been 

 completely dislocated at the shoulder by the blow, but it had been 

 torn or struck downwards with such extreme force that the flesh 

 had been entirely stripped off the ribs and the side ; the arm at 

 the extremity of this ruin was dangling upon the ground, hanging 

 only to the hip by the flesh attached. The Tokroori had been 

 killed on the spot by the shock to the system. This was a re- 

 markable example of force. On the other hand, although the lion 



