204 EASTERN ETHIOPIA xvi 



over me to examine the prickle hidden in the tuft of 

 long hair at the tip of the tail. 



Much of the doubt about this prickle at the end of 

 the lion's tail is due to the fact that poetical imagination 

 has pictured the lion goading himself to fury by lashing 

 himself with the tail ; this is a fable ; the lion could not 

 even scratch himself with this caudal spike. 



The lion at Aden illustrated very forcibly that, like 

 other cats, he was nocturnal in habits ; during daylight 

 he remained quiet and often slept soundly, but at even- 

 tide he woke up, and as the darkness deepened he placed 

 his paws on the top rail of the verandah and roared at 

 the " niggers " in the street below. 



The lion in British East Africa must be considered 

 from the point of view of the sportsman and of the settler. 

 This great cat abounds in the Protectorate especially in 

 its high plateaus, and it has been killed at an altitude of 

 6,200 feet by Major Powell-Cotton ; but it thrives best 

 at a moderate elevation. Lions are always numerous 

 where zebra and antelope abound ; to these and similar 

 animals they are a nightly terror. Lions often move 

 about in company : Mr. F. J. Jackson saw a troop of 

 twenty-three near Machakos, and Mr. Newman once saw 

 fifteen together north-east of Kenia. Soon after the 

 construction of the Uganda Railway the lions were a 

 great nuisance as well as a real menace to those who 

 worked on the line, and a reward of 200 rupees was 

 offered to those who killed a lion. It happend that the 

 driver of a traction engine saw a troop of seven lions, 

 and he managed in one morning to shoot the lot and 

 thus secured 1,400 rupees. 



The fascination of lion shooting is easy to understand. 

 There are five formidable game animals in Africa : 

 the lion, elephant, buffalo, rhinoceros and leopard ; it 

 is only necessary to visit the country to find evidence 

 among the sportsmen of personal damage, and many 

 bold and experienced hunters have lost their lives 

 in encounters with these dangerous beasts. It is 



