APPENDIX 333 



The forests are so dark and dreadful that even the 

 boldest warriors shrink from their awful depths. 



Now from the town of Mombasa, a railway line extends 

 unto Uganda ; 



In the forests bordering on this line, there are found 

 those lions called " man-eaters," and moreover these forests 

 are full of thorns and prickly shrubs. 



Portions of this railway from Mombasa to Uganda are 

 still being made, and here these lions fell on the workmen 

 and destroyed them. 



Such was their habit, day and night, and hundreds of 

 men fell victims to these savage creatures, whose very jaws 

 were steeped in blood. 



Bones, flesh, skin and blood, they devoured all, and left 

 not a trace behind them. 



Because of the fear of these demons some seven or eight 

 hundred of the labourers deserted, and remained idle ; 



Some two or three hundred still remained, but they were 

 haunted by this terrible dread, 



And because of fear for their lives, would sit in their 

 huts, their hearts full of foreboding and terror. 



Everyone of them kept afire burning at night, and none 

 dared to close his eyes in sleep ; yet would some of them 

 be carried away to destruction. 



The lion's roar was such that the very earth would trem- 

 ble at the sound, and where was the man who did not feel 

 afraid ? 



On all sides arose weeping and wailing, and the people 

 would sit and cry like cranes, complaining of the deeds of 

 the lions. 



I, Roshan, chief of my people, also complained and 

 prayed to God, the Prophet, and to our spiritual adviser. 



And now will I relate the story of the Engineer in 

 charge of the line. 



He kept some ten or twenty goats, for the sake of their 

 milk ; 



