xv FINDING THE MAN-EATERS’ DEN 155 
could take aim, he snorted loudly and crashed off 
through the tangled undergrowth. As I followed up 
this ravine, walking stealthily along in the delightful 
shade of the overhanging palms, I observed on 
my left a little nullah which opened out of the 
main channel through a confused mass of jungle 
and creeper. Through this tangle there was a 
well-defined archway, doubtless made by the regular 
passage of rhino and hippo, so I decided to enter 
and explore what lay beyond. I had not gone very 
far when I came upon a big bay scooped out of the 
bank by the stream when in flood and carpeted with 
a deposit of fine, soft sand, in which were the 
indistinct tracks of numberless animals. In one 
corner of this bay, close under an overhanging tree, 
stood a little sandy hillock, and on looking over the 
top of this I saw on the other side a fearsome- 
looking cave which seemed to run back for a con- 
siderable distance under the rocky bank. Round 
the entrance and inside the cavern I was thunder- 
struck to find a number of human bones, with here 
and there a copper bangle such as the natives wear. 
Beyond all doubt, the man-eaters’ den! In this 
manner, and quite by accident, I stumbled upon the 
lair of these once-dreaded ‘‘demons”, which I had 
spent so many days searching for through the 
exasperating and interminable jungle during the 
time when they terrorised Tsavo. I had no in- 
