WITH FLASH-LIGHT AND RIFLE 



But, alas! — or should I not rather say fortunately? — 

 the animals withdrew from sight as soon as they had 

 become aware of me. I often had to register similar • 

 experiences that the lions were so near and yet too far. 

 The worst stroke of ill-luck, from a hunter's point of 

 view, I had was when I failed to kill the strongest-maned 

 lion I ever met with in the wilderness. One day, while 

 stalking water -bucks, I saw an animal hiding in the 

 bushes. Soon I made it out to be a maned hon of un- 

 usual size. He had scented me and galloped away 

 before I could take good aim. The bullet I sent after 

 him did not miss him quite, as I could see from the 

 bloody trail. I followed it for a distance, but without 

 bein^ able to overtake the wounded beast. My men 

 found the carcass of a big lion a fortnight later not far 

 from where I had wounded the lion. He had worked 

 his way into the heart of a thicket so that even the 

 vultures could not get at him. The flesh was almost 

 completely eaten up by maggots. I could only save the 

 skull, the biggest in my collection. The defective teeth 

 showed me that the Hon was well on in years. 



All in all, I caught thirty-seven lions in traps made by 

 Rudolf Weber. A few strong beasts had dragged the 

 sixty pounds of iron for long distances an hour or more. 

 The asses and cattle which I used as bait had all been 

 stung by the poisonous tsetse-fly. The quick bite of the 

 fehnes simply shortened their otherwise slow and pain- 

 ful death. The trapped and runaway lions had often 



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