402 CLOSING INCIDENTS. 



went to his allotted position, and the circle slowly closed in on the snarling 

 beast, which swished its tail and kept up a continual roaring. 



The warriors drew to within some twenty yards of the lion, and the col- 

 onel and the horsemen closed up to see the kill, yet remained at a sufficient 

 distance so as not to interfere with the spearmen's movements. Three times 

 the lion made a savage charge at the now stationary warriors, but stopped 

 short each time, with mane bristling, roaring in impotent rage at its tormen- 

 tors. 



Again the attacking party advanced to within ten yards of their victim. 

 One last desperate effort and the lion drove directly at the line, only to 

 fall with ten spears quivering in its body. But in that brief moment it man- 

 aged to drag down one of the natives, its claws sinking into the man's flesh. 



The death of the king of beasts seemed to awaken all the fire in the 

 warriors' blood. They began a dance of triumph around the body, waving 

 their blood-stained spears, some of which were bent by the force of the shock ; 

 holding their shields above their heads and shouting forth blood-curdling yells 

 in the excess of their savage joy over the victory. 



In the meantime the injured man was given medical attention. He bore 

 the pain of his wounds without a sign of concern. He who first had jabbed 

 his spear through the lion joined in the dance at the start, but soon retired to 

 a distance, where he seated himself, apparently indifferent to the antics of 

 his fellows. He now was a leader of men and must therefore not show sign 

 that he had done anything out of the ordinary. 



This exciting game formed the closing scene of the colonel's safari in 

 British East Africa. He immediately took the train for Port Florence and 

 proceeded to Entebbe by steamer on Victoria Nyanza as related in a previous 

 chapter. 



The party stayed only over night in Entebbe, where they were enter- 

 tained by the British governor of the Protectorate. The next day Roosevelt 

 and Kermit were taken to Kampala in motor cars, while the other members 

 of the expedition arrived by steamer. 



Kampala is located on the western shore of Victoria Nyanza on a dom- 

 ineering elevation. The colonel was met by a magnificent sight. The whole 

 brow and sides of the hill were covered with gigantic grass huts neatly 

 thatched and fenced all around with the tall yellow reeds of the Uganda 

 tiger-grass. In the center of this vast conglomeration of huts the regal pal- 

 ace, a building of extraordinary dimensions and neatness, raised its majestic 



