-t A Lion-Hunt 



Shortly before our arrival Mr. Hall had been tossed 

 three times by a bull rhinoceros at which he had shot. 

 Three of his ribs had been broken, and for months he 

 had been obliged to keep to his bed. After his recovery 

 from this he had an encounter with a leopard, which he 

 had also shot and wounded. One of his Askaris saved 

 him by a timely bullet from this dangerous assailant, 

 which left him an undesirable memento, however, in the 

 shape of several wounds and a long-continued stiffness 

 of one leg. 



These mishaps were not to keep him from hunting 

 again now as much as he could. Previously, indeed, he 

 had been shooting big game year after year without any 

 kind of ill-luck. 



Our talk was most interesting. We " swapped " 

 experiences, and Mr. Hall said that lions were to be 

 met with in plenty a few miles from the fort on the Athi 

 plain, which is always rich in wild life. Corporal Ellis 

 (of D Company of the Royal Engineers) confirmed this, 

 and suggested that I should break my journey, and, after 

 a day's rest in the fort, spend a night in his camp, five 

 hours' journey away, and go out thence with him on a 

 lion-hunt. He himself had shot a lioness right in front 

 of his camp a fortnight before. I had already made a 

 number of fruitless efforts to get a shot at a lion, and 

 had not much confidence in succeeding now. I decided, 

 however, to accept this friendly invitation. 



Taking farewell cordially of Mr. Hall, I set off with 

 Corporal Ellis, and after a march of several hours we 

 reached the camp. He was in charge of a cattle-station 



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