ADVENTURES ALONG THE TANA 



When we came to skin him we found an old- 

 fashioned lead bullet between the bones of his right 

 forepaw. The entrance wound had so entirely 

 healed over that hardly the trace of a scar remained. 

 From what I know of the character of these beasts, 

 I have no doubt that this ancient injury furnished 

 the reason for his staying to attack us instead of 

 departing with the other three lions over the hill. 



Following the course of the river, we one afternoon 

 came around a bend on a huge herd of mixed game 

 that had been down to water. The river, a quite 

 impassable barrier, lay to our right, and an equally 

 impassable precipitous ravine barred their flight 

 ahead. They were forced to cross our front, quite 

 close, within the hundred yards. We stopped to 

 watch them go, a seemingly endless file of them, some 

 very much frightened, bounding spasmodically as 

 though stung; others, more philosophical, loping 

 easily and unconcernedly; still others a few 

 even stopping for a moment to get a good view of us. 

 The very young creatures, as always, bounced along 

 absolutely stiff-legged, exactly like wooden animals 

 suspended by an elastic, touching the ground and 

 rebounding high, without a bend of the knee nor an 

 apparent effort of the muscles. Young animals 

 seem to have to learn how to bend their legs for the 



295 



