HUNTING ON THE SIMBA RIVER 239 



plied ; but, if so, they did not make a deep impression 

 upon the lions, for in August another hair-raising 

 telegram reached the traffic-manao'er, as follows — 



"'Simba, August 17, 1.45 a.m. 



" ' Urgent. To Traffic-Manager. 



" ' A lion is on the platform. Please instruct guard 

 and driver to proceed carefully and to expect no signals 

 in the yard. Tell the guard to advise passengers not to 

 get out here, and to be very careful himself when he 

 comes into the office.' 



" It is not quite certain whether the babu was chiefly 

 solicitous for the safety of the guard or whether he 

 thought that the lion might take advantage of the open 

 door to come into the office. However this may be, the 

 distress-sio-nal from Simba had the immediate result of 

 starting a British sportsman in that direction. He took 

 the next train for Simba, and under the water-tank he 

 and the railway-men erected a platform about ten feet 

 above the ground, where the Nimrod spent several days 

 waiting for the visitors. His patience was at length 

 rewarded. 



" The ffi'st animal he saw was a lioness, that came 

 walking out of the scrub, very likely for the purpose of 

 quenching her thirst at the little stream that was leaking 

 from the tank. When she was within about fifty yards 

 of the platform the hunter put a cordite bullet into her 

 and stretched her on the ground. The hunter did not 

 leave his perch, for he thought something more would be 

 doing. He was not mistaken. A little later two lions 

 came out of the high grass, and were soon in great 

 mental distress over the strange attitude of the dead 

 female. They kept circling around her body, now 

 growling, then whining. They hit the body with their 

 paws, and at last began to drag it away, perhaps with 

 the idea of awakening her. Just then a bullet ended 

 the life of one of the brutes, and the other, wounded by 

 the second shot, sprang into the bush. For half-an- 



