276 SAFARI 



About eleven o'clock the animals began drifting 

 down to a nearby donga for their noonday siesta out 

 of the sun. Soon we were left alone, safe and 

 unharmed. 



We returned to the shade of the big mimosa tree 

 where our porters were waiting. The natives treated 

 us almost as if we were gods. They had seen us 

 siUTOunded by lions and could not understand for 

 the life of them why we were not attacked. 



After limch and a short nap Osa went out and shot 

 a zebra. We hoped we could get the lions to focus 

 more in one spot and give us even better pictures than 

 we had taken, so the boys dragged the zebra to a 

 point close to where we had last seen the lions. 

 Then we sent them back out of the way while Osa 

 and I moved up close to the carcass with the cameras. 



About five in the evening an old grandmother 

 lioness came out and sniffed at the dead zebra. 

 But apparently she was not hungry, for after inspect- 

 ing it well with her nose she lay down beside it and 

 went fast asleep. I never knew lions were such 

 sleepy animals. 



Now a yoimg lion came up and the lioness left. 

 He rubbed against the zebra and piured ; then he lay 

 down beside it until the lioness retiuned. This time 

 she decided she wanted to be left alone. She 

 lashed her tail and growled, telling the young fellow, 

 who was probably her son, to get away, which he 



