GLIMPSES OF EAST AFRICA AND ZANZIBAR 



striking them and burning the Uon's paw as it in- 

 serted it down the hole, till the lion got tired of the 

 useless game and went away. Anyhow the man 

 dragged himself forth out of his trap next morning, 

 safe, but shaken, and distressed in every nerve. 



The superintendent of the police was travelling 

 up the line with two friends, in his special carriage, 

 when they heard of this lion being in the neighbour- 

 hood ; so they decided to try and get him, for he 

 had been seen in a certain place near Makindu 

 quite recently. They were to remain in the carri- 

 age on a siding, and each in turn was to keep guard 

 and watch with a loaded rifle. The superintendent 

 took first watch, while one of his friends got into a 

 high berth, and the other, the Italian, made his bed 

 on the floor. The latter thinks that the superin- 

 tendent must have lain down on a lower berth and 

 gone to sleep, thinking perhaps the lion would not 

 appear that night. But one is told that the lion 

 was so clever that, having watched them from the 

 darkness outside for some hours, he mounted the 

 two very high steps from the railway line to the 

 carriage, and opened the door and walked in. This 

 is not so wonderful as it sounds ; it is easily explained 

 by any one who knows how the carriages on the 

 Uganda Railway are made. The doors slide on 

 brass wheels from one post to the other, and unless 

 the catch has firmly caught they can easily be 

 pushed open, or the movement and rocking of the 



208 



