vii MAN-EATING LIONS 79 



discovered the animal's dead body, some seventy 

 yards from the hut, and it proved to be that of a 

 mangy old lioness. 



After cleansing Hyiah's thigh with hot water, the 

 natives fashioned a maschilla and carried him into 

 my camp, where I immediately bathed and syringed 

 the poor fellow's wounds with disinfectants to prevent 

 blood-poisoning setting in. These precautions 

 proved effectual, and within six weeks Hyiah was 

 able to get about again. 



Two years after this occurrence, I chanced to 

 meet the headman of the village where the events 

 had taken place, and he informed me that his 

 kraal had not been disturbed by lions during 

 the interval ; a fact which seems to prove that 

 the lioness shot by Majemba had accounted 

 for the three men and six women that had been 

 carried off previous to the arrival of my men. 



When at the Bangalla River, some years ago, 

 after elephants as usual, I heard that lions had 

 killed and devoured a considerable number of 

 natives in the district, and on making particular 

 inquiries of the older men in the neighbourhood, 

 learned from them that within five years lions 

 had accounted for more than thirty people, 

 actually breaking into the huts to seize their 

 victims. 



About twelve years ago, while I was on the 



