xi ON SAFARI TO THE NORTH 139 



was a troop of great baboons from which he fled 

 in terror before making any investigation. 



One morning at Nyeri news was brought to us 

 that a lion had killed two women in the forest some 

 three or four miles away, so we started off at once 

 to try and bring the depredator to book. We had 

 with us as guide a boy of about eight or nine, who 

 said that he was present when the women were 

 carried off and heard them scream when seized by 

 the lion. This youth led us to the spot in the 

 forest where the women had been sitting, but we 

 could find neither lion nor trace of blood anywhere, 

 although we searched very carefully for a couple of 

 hours through the dense undergrowth. There was 

 no doubt, however, that the women had disappeared, 

 so what became of them remained a mystery. I was 

 rather inclined to doubt the lion theory from the 

 beginning, as my experience told me that he would 

 only kill and devour one at a time. It seemed 

 to me much more likely that some enterprising men 

 of a tribe in the locality were short of wives, and so 

 had made a raid and carried them off. 



On returning to camp I was glad to find that my 

 Masai runner had returned, but unfortunately he 

 brought back word that there was nothing what- 

 ever known of the donkeys at Rumuruti. I decided 

 therefore to set out next morning for that place and 

 discover for myself what had become of them. 



