334, IN AFRICA 



the dark shadows ; he thought it was the male lion, 

 shot, and the next morning found a large dead 

 hyena. 



Mrs. Akeley went out only once, had a night of 

 thrilling experiences, and killed a large male lion. 

 The lion appeared early in the evening and her first 

 shot just grazed the backbone. An inch higher and 

 it would have missed, but as it was, the mere graz- 

 ing of the backbone paralyzed the animal, prevent- 

 ing its escape. All night long it crouched help- 

 lessly before them, twelve yards away, insane with 

 rage and fury. Its roars were terrifying. A num- 

 ber of times she shot, but in the darkness none of 

 the many hits reached a vital spot. Once in the 

 night two other lions came, but escaped after being 

 fired at. 



As soon as daylight appeared and she could see 

 the sights of her rifle she easily killed the lion. It 

 was the largest one of the eleven killed in our hunt- 

 ing trip, and was killed with a little .256 Mann- 

 licher, the same weapon with which she shot her rec- 

 ord elephant on Mount Kenia. 



In the tall-grass method, native beaters are sent 

 in long skirmish line through swamps and such 

 places as lions like to lay up in during the hours of 

 daylight. The beaters chant a weird and rather 

 musical refrain as they advance and thrash the high 

 reeds with their sticks. Reedbuck, sometimes a 

 bushbuck, frequently hyenas, and many large owls 

 are driven out of nearly every good-sized swamp. 

 The hunters divide, one or more on each side of the 



