238 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



lion close by ; but native report is not to be relied on in cases 

 like this. 



Lions when in the game country rarely go a night without 

 something to eat, and I venture to think that in most instances 

 of attacks on camps the reason is not so much their reputed 

 natural boldness and daring, but that they are driven to it 

 by the pangs of hunger. But even the cowardly skulking 

 hyaena will enter a camp within the ring of fires under such cir- 

 cumstances. Although there is, as a rule, plenty of game in the 

 districts in which lions are found, they no doubt, for reasons 

 stated above, occasionally and of necessity retire foodless 

 and hungry. This may also be accounted for by old age and 

 inability to catch and kill game. But whatever the cause of 

 their hunger, they will always make for the nearest water, not 

 only to quench their thirst, but also as being a likely place to 

 find their prey ; and in the event of a camp being pitched 

 close by, in which there may be cattle, donkeys, or something 

 equally attractive, they are prompted to attack it. 



I only know of one instance of a camp being attacked at 

 night by a lion, and this was within my own experience. It 

 occurred in the waterless and also gameless wilderness between 

 Mount Kisigao and Mitati in the Teita country, when on my 

 way to Kilimanjaro. The night before the attack the lion was 

 seen close to camp by some porters who were lying under a tree 

 rather outside the ring of fires, and it was evidently intent on 

 a white donkey tied to a tree close by, which belonged to a 

 missionary who was travelling up with me for the sake of pro- 

 tection. The donkey was therefore brought into the centre of 

 the camp, and the lion was only heard at intervals during 

 the night as it prowled around. The following night when we 

 encamped without a ' boma,' the men being too tired to make 

 one, we merely formed a circle of fires, round which the mem- 

 bers of each mess were for the most part lying asleep. About 

 midnight I was awakened by a tremendous commotion 

 with cries of ' Simba ! Simba ! ' (lion !), and on rushing out of 

 my tent to investigate was told that a lion had attempted to 



