xx A DAY ON THE ATHI RIVER 221 



the stream itself widens out into a broad stretch of 

 water, nearly always covered over with tall reeds 

 and elephant grass, while along- the banks are 

 frequent patches of stunted bushes, which struck me 

 as very likely places for the king of beasts to sleep in 

 after having drunk at the river. I had noticed that 

 after having eaten and drunk well, a lion would 

 throw himself down quite without caution in the 

 first shady spot he came to ; of course- nothing 

 except man ever disturbs him, and even of man the 

 lions in this part of the country had as yet no fear, 

 for they had rarely if ever been hunted previous to 

 my time. 



As I felt rather tired after my morning's work, I 

 decided to use my pony on this expedition, although 

 as a rule I went on foot. Mahina and half-a-dozen 

 natives to beat the belt of trees were to accompany 

 me, and after a hasty lunch off we started up the left 

 bank of the river. I walked for some distance at 

 first, partly because the ground was very stony and 

 partly because I thought a lion might suddenly 

 bound out of some likely patches in front of the 

 beaters ; but after having gone about six miles in 

 this way without adventure of any kind, I decided 

 to mount again. At this time the beaters were in 

 line about a hundred yards behind me, shouting and 

 halloing with all their might as they advanced 

 through the scrub and undergrowth, while I rode 



