294 



THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO 



CHAP. 



the wounded elephant, succeeded in finishing him 

 off" without further trouble. 



Towards the end of 1899 I left for England. A 

 few days before I started all my Wa Kikuyu 

 " children ", as they called themselves, came in 

 a body and begged to be taken with me. I 

 pictured to them the cold, wet climate of England 



'SUCCEEDED IN FINISHING HIM OFF WITHOUT FURTHER 

 TROUBLE." 



and its great distance from their native land ; but 

 they assured me that these were nothing to them, 

 as they only wished to continue my " children " and 

 to go. wherever I went. I could hardly imagine 

 myself arriving in London with a body-guard of 

 four hundred more or less naked savages, but it was 

 only with difficulty that I persuaded them that they 

 had better remain in their own country. The ever- 

 faiihful Mahina, my "boy" Roshan Khan, my 



