VICTORIA NYANZA 129 



of Penfold, calmly and casually counting them as they 

 passed 1 We found that the shot from the .405 had 

 merely cut his paw, the first shot with the .30 had 

 broken his shoulder, wliile the last had entered his 

 head. Both he and the one killed by Austin were full- 

 grown males mth fair manes. 



After the exercise of getting these into the truck, all of 

 us were ready to enjoy a delayed breakfast. Later we 

 proceeded to our lion donga, but, although we hunted 

 high and low, could find no trace of our family. We 

 came to the conclusion that they had heard of the 

 tragedy to the other troop that morning and had 

 left the country. 



The time had now arrived to collect the Ikoma Hon 

 spearmen, who had promised to join us; so I sent Bud 

 and Ted with one of the trucks into the lake country 

 for them. The truck started early in the morning with 

 rain threatening, giving prospects of a trying journey 

 through mud and the tsetse-fly country. They took 

 tliree boys with them and plenty of suppUes, for, al- 

 though it was only a two-hundred-fifty-mile round trip, 

 in this country it is always wise to go prepared 

 for a long trek. Bud had instructions to bring back 

 twenty spearmen with all their equipment. 



With Mike driving the other truck, his wife Mona 

 and myself on the front seat, and three black boys for 

 lookouts, we started out, intending to fulfil Mona's 

 ambition to shoot a hon. She had been in Africa a 

 long time and her husband is one of the greatest hunters 

 the country has ever known, but it was the old story 

 of the shoemaker's wdfe going without shoes. Mona 

 had been Hving among Hons, hearing about lions for 

 years, and had never shot one. As we bumped along 



