98 AFRICA SPEAKS ^ 



district, but having heard of our great success with 

 lions, and the Norwegians being very keen to obtain 

 Hon trophies, he had brought them here. While hunt- 

 ing water buck along a donga about eight miles from 

 Camp Simba, we came around a bend and found this 

 party in the act of putting up their tents. 



Strolling up, greetings were exchanged; then ques- 

 tions were asked concerning the game in the vicinity, 

 particularly about Felis leo. The one Norwegian who 

 spoke EngHsh wanted to know if they were in a good 

 position for hons. It was hard for me to keep a sober 

 face, for just the day before we had fed six hons within 

 a hundred yards of this spot. I had shot a reedbuck 

 and after my skinner had removed the hide, we left 

 the carcass to these lions, who had kept circhng and 

 growling at us during the skinning operations. 



Ted was with me at this time and could not resist 

 teUing the newcomers about the big Honess we had 

 killed near this camp a week before. It was three 

 o'clock in the afternoon, when we found this old female 

 standing over a young zebra she had just killed, with 

 four hyenas and several score vultures forming a circle 

 around her. This was the old lady who hved near 

 one of our best water holes and, by her smelly presence, 

 kept me from securing pictures at tliis point. Know- 

 ing I was on the outs with her on this account, Ted 

 asked permission to shoot her. Before I could answer, 

 the tenderfoot of our party blazed aAvay with the .405 ; 

 then Ted came into action with liis cannon of .505 cah- 

 ber. Each time he pulled the trigger the recoil would 

 push him back about ten feet, but in his excitement he 

 never noticed it. Between the two of them the old 

 lioness came to an inglorious end beneath the small thorn 



