130 THE LAND OF THE LION 



nooses of kongoni sinew, laid down in the grass; maraboo 

 and vultures entangle their feet in them, as they come to 

 feed on the carrion) whose feathers they covet, then the 

 chances of the lion returning to the kill are but slight. 

 Generally a lion will return next night to his kill, often 

 staying there till quite late in the morning. Even if he 

 goes away at daylight, he will lie up at the nearest water 

 or in some brush hard by. You can, in this way, get some 

 idea of his whereabouts and often get a shot. 



Or, the natives may locate him in some favourite ravine, 

 where several lions, will often for quite a long time, take up 

 their quarters. Or, again, the Massai may have tracked 

 the great cattle thief to some family refuge in a kopji, 

 and you might be weeks in the neighbourhood without 

 discovering it. There are, in short, a great variety of 

 ways, in which you can get aid and information from the 

 local native and be sure and use him when you can. You 

 must be prepared, however, in the first instance, to be often 

 denied all information. I suppose the tribes have their 

 own reasons for this cause of action, for it is very common, 

 but I could never discover it. The N'dorobo, for instance, 

 who may be very meat hungry, when you first see them, 

 and who are living meagrely on honey and meat stolen 

 from lion "kills," are likely to assure you, when you ask 

 if there are many lions round, that there are none within 

 three or four marches. In a week these same N'dorobo 

 will haunt your camp, crowd to your fire, till you have 

 to drive them away, and bring their sick to get "dowa" 

 (medicine). 



If there are many of these hunting "wild men," as the 

 other tribes call them, in your neighbourhood, better come 

 to an understanding with them about this matter of "kills." 

 Promise to give them a kongoni now and then, if they will 

 leave all kills alone, and come to you as soon as they find 

 one. If some such arrangement is not made with them, 



