264 T HE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO CHAP. 



the body of the zebra, my African following made a 

 rush for it, and began a fierce fight over the remains, 

 so that I had to restore order and leave a coolie 

 to see that our guide got the largest share, as he 

 deserved. In the meantime the lion, hearing the 



7 o 



noise of the squabble, halted on the crest of the 

 hill to take a deliberate look at me, and then dis- 

 appeared over the brow. I jumped on to my mule 

 and galloped as hard as I could after him, and 

 luckily found the pair still in sight when I reached 

 the top of the rise. As soon as they saw me 

 following them up, the lioness took covert in some 

 long grass that almost concealed her when she lay 

 down, but the lion continued to move steadily away. 

 Accordingly I made for a point which would bring 

 me about two hundred yards to the right of the 

 lioness, and which would leave a deep natural hollow 

 between us, so as to give me a better chance, in the 

 event of a charge, of bowling her over as she came 

 up the rise towards me. I could plainly make out 

 her light-coloured form in the grass, and took careful 

 aim and fired. In an instant she was kicking on her 

 back and tossing about, evidently hard hit ; in a few 

 seconds more she lay perfectly still, and I saw that 

 she was dead. 



I now turned my attention to the lion, who mean- 

 while had disappeared over another rise. By this 

 time Mahina and the other Indian, with three or 



