182 AFRICA SPEAKS 



injured, but before I had time to say anything, Mike 

 brought our truck to a stop with a loud squeaking of 

 brakes and I knew we were close to the scene of action. 



A lion had come to bay and made a false charge 

 almost to the nearest Nandi, but then changed his 

 mind and lay down. This gave us a chance to get 

 prepared, but the Hon then gave a sudden spring and 

 dashed through a hole in the Nandi circle. Spears were 

 hurled at him as he ran, but they missed, for which I 

 was glad on account of the position in which my camera 

 was placed. If a spear had struck him, the whole show 

 would have been over and I could not have filmed it. 



The Hon now ran two hundred yards with the Nandi 

 in pursuit, then crouched and roared defiance. He 

 made another charge, which I got in the camera, but 

 stopped short again. By this time, however, he was 

 enraged and kept on his feet ready for action. The 

 warriors slowly surrounded him once more, and I 

 centered the camera on the spot which judgment told 

 me he would charge. It was taking a long chance, 

 for if he failed to charge that way, it would be over 

 before I could change positions; but this time luck 

 smiled on me, for with a roar and rush he came at the 

 men whom I had picked as his likely target. It was 

 an exciting moment as the raging animal bore down 

 toward these three men who stood tensely waiting, 

 none of them knowing which one he would choose as 

 the victim of his anger. When he did swerve toward 

 one warrior, that man knew his life depended on what 

 he did in the next few seconds. His eye and arm must 

 both be steady, for if he should fail to place his spear 

 in that critical fraction of a second, when the Hon gave 

 him the opportunity to strike the right spot, he would 



