APPENDIX 233 
The forests are so dark and dreadful that even the 
boldest warriors shrink from their awful depths. 
Now from the town of Mombasa, a railway line extends 
unto Uganda ; 
In the forests bordering on this line, there are found 
those lions called “ man-eaters,’ and moreover these forests 
are full of thorns and prickly shrubs. 
Portions of this railway from Mombasa to Uganda are 
still being made, and here these lions fell on the workmen 
and destroyed them. 
Such was their habit, day and night, and hundreds ot 
men fell victims to these savage creatures, whose very jaws 
were steeped in blood. 
Bones, flesh, skin and blood, they devoured all, and left 
not a trace behind them. 
Because of the fear of these demons some seven or eight 
hundred of the labourers deserted, and remained idle ; 
Some two or three hundred still remained, but they were 
haunted by this terrible dread, 
And because of fear for their lives, would sit in their 
huts, their hearts full of foreboding and terror. 
Every one of them kept a fire burning at night,and none 
dared to close his eyes in sleep ; yet would some of them 
be carried away to destruction. 
The lion’s roar was such that the very earth would trem- 
ble at the sound, and where was the man who did not feel 
afraid ? 
On all sides arose weeping and wailing, and the people 
would sit and cry like cranes, complaining of the deeds of 
the lions. 
I, Roshan, chief of my people, also complained and 
prayed to God, the Prophet, and to our spiritual adviser. 
And now will I relate the story of the Engineer in 
charge of the line. 
He kept some ten or twenty goats, for the sake of their 
milk ; 
