vii MAN-EATING LIONS 71 



more than a couple of hundred yards distant. The 

 homeward path lay through dense grass, and as they 

 sauntered back the girl, who walked a little in 

 advance of her mother, all of a sudden heard a 

 terrified shriek and a fierce growl, and turning round, 

 saw a lion seize her mother by the thigh, fling her to 

 the ground and bite her through the neck. Yelling, 

 ' Simba mama wae ! ' (Lion, my mother ! ) she 

 immediately rushed to her hut, only about a score 

 of yards away, and the villagers living close by, hear- 

 ing her piteous cries, snatched up their spears and 

 quickly appeared on the scene. By this time, the 

 lion had dragged the unfortunate woman into the 

 long grass and could be heard devouring the body 

 some twenty or thirty yards from the path, but to 

 penetrate such a bush after a man-eating lion was 

 an undertaking upon which they would not venture. 

 Knowing that I was encamped near the village, 

 they decided to appeal to me for assistance and 

 without further delay came running to my tent 

 and excitedly explained to me what had actually 

 occurred. Snatching up my double '577, and 

 taking particular care to insert cartridges with 

 capped, expanding bullets, I hastened to the spot 

 where the native woman had been killed, and 

 holding my rifle in front of me, ready for instant 

 action, I stealthily entered the long grass, my 

 tracker, Simba, armed with a spear, following me as 



