SYCE'S ADVENTURE 285 



horsemanship. The day began badly for him. He brought up 

 my mule as usual and stood on the off side while I mounted. 

 The saddle had a lumpy look about it, and for an instant 

 I hesitated to mount. It was well I did so, for on looking 

 over to his side I missed my off stirrup. Sure enough, he 

 had actually saddled the mule and girthed him tight, with 

 the off stirrup securely fastened down on the unfortunate 

 beast's back, under the seat of my saddle! 



I have seen a mischievous boy, in the South, put a 

 hickory nut under the saddle of a skittish Virginian mare, 

 and when the rider, a good one, mounted there was a circus 

 indeed. I don't fancy my mule could have emulated that 

 Virginian horse though he can buck reasonably well on 

 occasions, but as we were surrounded by tent ropes and 

 all the paraphernalia of a camp, there would have been some 

 grief had I mounted. However the danger was averted, 

 the syce rebuked, and I rode off from camp. 



After going for an hour or so we cut the spoor of a family 

 of lions returning from the night hunt. The head of that 

 family was plainly a very big one, judging by his "sign." 

 It had poured the night before, so tracking was possible 

 even on the hard ground. I determined to follow the trail 

 though the chance of getting a shot was small, the country 

 being quite open when it was open; and densely, imper- 

 ivously bushy when the cactus jungle skirted the Quasi 

 Nyiro. 



The lions made their usual semi-circle round and finally, 

 as I feared they would, led me into the great belt of cactus 

 scrub that bordered the river. Here all manner of known 

 and unknown vegetable barriers combined to bar the way; 

 thorns long and short, creeping trailers thin and thick and 

 all of them unbreakable. Here the dark places in the 

 dense thicket were tunnelled by heavy beasts forcing their 

 way through. Yet these tunnels would be strung across by 

 creepers innumerable, and were so low that you could not 



