LIONS AGAIN 



within that distance. The rest is alertness and 

 quickness. 



As I have said, the amount of cover necessary to 

 conceal a lion is astonishingly small. He can flatten 

 himself out surprisingly; and his tawny colour blends 

 so well with the brown grasses that he is practically 

 invisible. A practised man does not, of course, look 

 for lions at all. He is after unusual small patches, 

 especially the black ear tips or the black of the mane. 

 Once guessed at, it is interesting to see how quickly 

 the hitherto unsuspected animal sketches itself out 

 in the cover. 



I should, before passing on to another aspect of 

 the matter, mention the dangerous poisons carried 

 by the lion's claws. Often men have died from the 

 most trivial surface wounds. The grooves of the 

 claws carry putrefying meat from the kills. Every 

 sensible man in a lion country carries a small syringe, 

 and either permanganate or carbolic. And those 

 mild little remedies he uses full strength! 



The great and overwhelming advantage is of 

 course with the hunter. He possesses as deadly a 

 weapon: and that weapon will kill at a distance. 

 This is proper, I think. There are more lions than 

 hunters; and, from our point of view, the man is 

 more important than the beast. The game is not 

 too hazardous. By that I mean that, barring sheer 



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