58 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO CHAP. 
first passed, and who numbered about a hundred. 
Both groups of men, carrying crowbars and flourish- 
ing their heavy hammers, then closed in on me in 
the narrow part of the ravine. I stood still, waiting 
for them to act, and one man rushed at me, seizing 
both my wrists and shouting out that he was going 
to “be hung and shot for me ’—rather a curious 
way of putting it, but that was his exact expression. 
I easily wrenched my arms free, and threw him 
from me; but by this time I was closely hemmed 
in, and everywhere I looked I could see nothing 
but evil and murderous-looking faces. One burly 
brute, afraid to be the first to deal a blow, hurled 
the man next him at me; and if he had succeeded 
in knocking me down, I am certain that I should 
never have got up again alive. As it was, however, 
I stepped quickly aside, and the man intended 
to knock me down was himself thrown violently 
against a rock, over which he fell heavily. 
This occasioned a moment’s confusion, of which I 
quickly took advantage. I sprang on to the top of 
the rock, and before they had time to recover them- 
selves I had started haranguing them in Hindustani. 
The habit of obedience still held them, and fortun- 
ately they listened to what I had to say. I told them 
that I knew all about their plot to murder me, and 
that they could certainly do so if they wished ; but 
that if they did, many of them would assuredly be 
