296 THE LAND OF THE LION 



I found myself at last at the foot of a steep bluff, my 

 pony ridden to a standstill, and one bullet, my last, in the 

 left barrel of my rifle. Right before me stood a wounded 

 and irate old bull. Whether I had wounded him or not I 

 didn't know. Most likely I had, for he was old, tough and 

 useless, and the Indians only killed for meat; anyway, 

 with that last bullet I finished him and, decorated with his 

 tail, started campward on foot, triumphant. Where camp 

 was I had no remotest idea, but the slain buffalo dotted the 

 plains, and women carrying in meat soon marked the long 

 hot trail homeward. 



Yes, as I looked long into my African camp fire, that 

 great day came back to me again. My rude but hospitable 

 hosts of long ago had vanished with the innumerable herds 

 that fed and housed them. Towns flourish and wheat 

 harvests wave where the buffalo streamed along in thunder- 

 ing flight. And I thought, will this wild land in like manner 

 know change as momentous ? May it too become a land 

 of health and homes and plenty ? It is hard to say. Pro- 

 phecy is fascinating but dangerous. Certainly the black 

 man here shows no sign of vacating his heritage, nor does the 

 white man, as yet, often give proof that he is able or willing 

 to be in it more than an adventurer and fortune seeker. The 

 country must of right belong at last to the men, black or 

 white, who find in it a home. 



Since I have allowed myself to be betrayed into the 

 reminiscent mood, I may as well tempt my readers' patience 

 a little further. When I was quite a little fellow I looked 

 daily for years at the blue Mourne Mountains as they sloped 

 gradually to the Irish Sea. The sweeping line of those 

 purple hills, with the climbing patches of yellow oats and 

 barley, that made a brave fight to hold their own against 

 the surrounding bog and heather, are as clearly before my 

 eyes now as they were in the autumn days of fifty years ago. 

 On one side the mountains rose from the sands and mud 



