THE LION '239 



carry off one of my men. It appeared that this man was out- 

 side the ring of fires, when the lion came up and grabbed him 

 by the head as he was lying on his back with his feet to the 

 fire. Fortunately for him his head was enveloped in several 

 pieces of cloth, which he used during the day as a pad, to pro- 

 tect his head when carrying a load. This cloth evidently 

 slipped and prevented the beast from getting a good grip of the 

 man's head, and probably killing him on the spot. As it was, 

 he received a nasty gash just above the eyebrow, beginning at 

 the temple and extending to above the bridge of his nose, with 

 another long gash across the top of his head, corresponding 

 to the large canine teeth, and other smaller scratches between 

 these two gashes. There were also cuts, though less serious, 

 on the other side of his head, which had been done by the 

 teeth of the lower jaw. Curious to say, the lion carried off the 

 pieces of cloth, and we never succeeded in finding them when 

 following the spoor for a considerable way next morning. 



I also know of two cases of attacks being made on man in 

 open daylight, both quite unprovoked. The first was also an 

 experience of my own. 



At the time I was in command of a large caravan, and was 

 accompanied by Dr. A. D. Mackinnon, who was walking ahead 

 with me on the march through dense bush, the men straggling 

 along in single file, doing what is called a ' teregeza.' As we 

 walked along, we noticed the spoor of a lion on the footpath 

 for a considerable distance, and saw where he had left the track, 

 and entered the bush just before coming to a small opening, but 

 we thought nothing of it. Some quarter of a mile or so further 

 on we were startled by a terrific yell and continued screaming in 

 the rear, and thinking that a prowling band of Masai warriors 

 had attacked the caravan, I snatched a Winchester repeating 

 carbine from my boy in exchange for a shot-gun I was carrying, 

 and ran back followed by the doctor with a Snider. As we ran, 

 we met the cook and my small tent-boy, who had been carrying 

 my '500 Express in its waterproof case, as I did not expect to 

 meet with any big game in such dense bush, which extended 



