98 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO CHAP. 
and it was fortunate that we did so, as otherwise at 
least one more victim would have been added to the 
list. For on the night of December 27, I was sud- 
denly aroused by terrified shouts from my trolley 
men, who slept in a tree close outside my Jdoma, to 
the effect that a lion was trying to get at them. It 
would have been madness to have gone out, as 
the moon was hidden by dense clouds and it was 
absolutely impossible to see anything more than a 
yard in front of one; so all I could do was to fire off a 
few rounds just to frighten the brute away. This 
apparently had the desired effect, for the men were not 
further molested that night; but the man-eater had 
evidently prowled about for some time, for we found 
in the morning that he had gone right into every 
one of their tents, and round the tree was a regular 
ring of his footmarks. 
The following evening I took up my position in this 
same tree, in the hope that he would make another 
attempt. The night began badly, as while climbing 
up to my perch I very nearly put my hand on a 
venomous snake which was lying coiled round one 
of the branches. As may be imagined, I came down 
again very quickly, but one of my men managed to 
despatch it with a long pole. Fortunately the night 
was clear and cloudless, and the moon made every- 
thing almost as bright as day. I kept watch until about 
_ 
2 a.m., when I roused Mahina to take his turn. For 
steel 
