-4 More Lion-Hunting Experiences 



Among my donkeys and cattle there was always some 

 animal available as bait for the lions, owing to the ravages 

 of the. tsetse-fly. When one of them had been attacked by 

 this scourge, instant death from a bite by a lion was a 

 real release from the lingering agony of death by blood- 

 poisoning. 



Often the lions would have so covered themselves over 

 with reeds and grass that even at a distance of ten paces 

 I could hardly make them out, and had to climb a tree 

 to get a shot at them. 



My most notable exploit, as regards the capturing of 

 lions, was the bagging of a party of nine, consisting of three 

 old lionesses and six others, of which four were full-grown 

 young ones. Three had appeared one night, four the next, 

 and the following night the last two. This was the only 

 time I have known an old lioness to be tempted successfully 

 by a goat. I had, however, so placed the trap and the 

 goat that the lioness, so soon as she had seized the latter, 

 was able to get off unhurt, and make her way again into a 

 sedgy swamp hard by. There she kept so quiet that one 

 of my men wandering past stick in hand, ignorant of his 

 danger, almost knocked up against her. Fortunately he 

 escaped. He took to his heels and never stopped until he 

 got safe back to camp. It is astonishing how quickly 

 lions, and even leopards and hyaenas, are able to drag these 

 heavy traps, which weigh about thirty kilograms, and which 

 have anchors stuck in the ground. Some branches of 

 the Wanyamwesi people are very fond of lion-flesh for 

 food. They believe that it makes them strong and brave ; 

 they are particularly fond of the fat parts. The nine lions 



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