CHAPTER VII 



THE DISTRICT OFFICER'S NARROW ESCAPE 



SOME little time before the flight of the workmen, 

 I had written to Mr. Whitehead, the District Officer, 

 asking him to come up and assist me in my cam- 

 paign against the lions, and to bring with him any 

 of his askaris (native soldiers) that he could spare. 

 He replied accepting the invitation, and told me to 

 expect him about dinner-time on December 2, which 

 turned out to be the day after the exodus. His 

 train was due at Tsavo about six o'clock in the 

 evening, so I sent my "boy" up to the station to 

 meet him and to help in carrying his baggage to the 

 camp. In a very short time, however, the "boy" 

 rushed back trembling with terror, and informed me 

 that there was no sign of the train or of the railway 

 staff, but that an enormous lion was standing on the 

 station platform. This extraordinary story I did 

 not believe in the least, as by this time the coolies 

 never remarkable for bravery were in such a 



