98 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO CHAP. 



and it was fortunate that we did so, as otherwise at 

 least one more victim would have been added to the 

 list. For on the night of December 27, I was sud- 

 denly aroused by terrified shouts from my trolley 

 men, who slept in a tree close outside my boma, to 

 the effect that a lion was trying to get at them. It 

 would have been madness to have gone out, as 

 the moon was hidden by dense clouds and it was 

 absolutely impossible to see anything more than a 

 yard in front of one ; so all I could do was to fire off a 

 few rounds just to frighten the brute away. This 

 apparently had the desired effect, for the men were not 

 further molested that night ; but the man-eater had 

 evidently prowled about for some time, for we found 

 in the morning that he had gone right into every 

 one of their tents, and round the tree was a regular 

 rin<r of his footmarks. 



c? 



The following evening I took up my position in this 

 same tree, in the hope that he would make another 

 attempt. The night began badly, as while climbing 

 up to my perch I very nearly put my hand on a 

 venomous snake which was lying coiled round one 

 of the branches. As may be imagined, I came down 

 again very quickly, but one of my men managed to 

 despatch it with a long pole. Fortunately the night 

 was clear and cloudless, and the moon made every- 

 thing almost as bright as day. I kept watch until about 

 2 a.m., when I roused Mahina to take his turn. For 



