WATCH FOR LIONS 63 



Laminifun. As all my white companions were out, 

 I took another turn and presently came on the fresh 

 track of a lion, which I followed for some way ; but 

 the spoor proveil to l)e "out," not "home." During 

 tiffin some villagers came in and said they could show 

 us elephants close by, on the other side of the river, 

 adding that, two nights previously, lions had killed 

 some sheep in an adjacent village. H. accordingly 

 decided to stay the afternoon and try for an elephant, 

 while I determined to try my luck by sitting up for one 

 or two nights for lion and afterwards overtake the others. 

 Lions seemed to be the only game which we might not 

 get near Rudolf, so 1 was very anxious to secure one, 

 and this seemed the most likely place we had passed 

 so far, as according to the natives there were frequent 

 kills. The others came in late from their elephant-hunt, 

 having seen nothing but tracks. Later on, I started for 

 a little zariba on the river bank, past which the lions 

 appeared to have a regular ford. Although w^e heard 

 them roaring in the distance, during our night-watch, 

 nothing came our way — always excepting the mosquitoes 

 — and what with these and the disappointment, we had 

 not had a pleasant night, when they came from camp to 

 let us out of the zariba in the morning. On the way 

 back to camp I looked about for bushbuck but saw none. 

 On reaching the tents 1 found that my companions had 

 started some hours earlier and, through some mistake, 

 had taken a little portmanteau of mine with them, 

 containing all my drugs, note-books, anil money. How- 

 ever, my boy discovered the loss in time to send a man 

 to overtake the caravan to bring it back. During 



