TO THE UASIN GISHU 409 



the first two or three spearmen, before their companions 

 arrived. 



One by one the spearmen came up, at a run, and grad- 

 ually began to form a ring round him. Each, when he came 

 near enough, crouched behind his shield, his spear in his 

 right hand, his fierce, eager face peering over the shield 

 rim. As man followed man, the lion rose to his feet. His 

 mane bristled, his tail lashed, he held his head low, the upper 

 lip now drooping over the jaws, now drawn up so as to 

 show the gleam of the long fangs. He faced first one way 

 and then another, and never ceased to utter his murderous 

 grunting roars. It was a wild sight; the ring of spearmen, 

 intent, silent, bent on blood, and in the centre the great 

 man-killing beast, his thunderous wrath growing ever more 

 dangerous. 



At last the tense ring was complete, and the spearmen 

 rose and closed in. The lion looked quickly from side 

 to side, saw where the line was thinnest, and charged at 

 his topmost speed. The crowded moment began. With 

 shields held steady, and quivering spears poised, the men 

 in front braced themselves for the rush and the shock; and 

 from either hand the warriors sprang forward to take their 

 foe in flank. Bounding ahead of his fellows, the leader 

 reached throwing distance; the long spear flickered and 

 plunged; as the lion felt the wound he half turned, and 

 then flung himself on the man in front. The warrior threw 

 his spear; it drove deep into the life, for entering at one 

 shoulder it came out of the opposite flank, near the thigh, a 

 yard of steel through the great body. Rearing, the lion 

 struck the man, bearing down the shield, his back arched; 

 and for a moment he slaked his fury with fang and talon. 

 But on the instant I saw another spear driven clear through 

 his body from side to side; and as the lion turned again 

 the bright spear blades darting toward him were flashes 

 of white flame. The end had come. He seized another 

 man, who stabbed him and wrenched loose. As he fell he 

 gripped a spear-head in his jaws with such tremendous 



