94 WAR: A SCOUTS' PATROL 



mediate agent for the Scouts and their runners, 

 began to interrogate them. Of the Scouts, West 

 and Johnson were close to Libebe watching that 

 corner, and Sinclair and Van Rensberg were about 

 150 miles farther up, on the Quito. These natives 

 brought a letter for Rensberg, which the old man 

 opened and started to read. Then came an 

 exclamation, " By God, Sinclair's been killed by a 

 lion ! '■ It had been a horrible accident, as the 

 letter related, and later on we learnt all the 

 details. 



What happened was this : Sinclair and Rens- 

 berg were at the time about nine miles from the 

 Quito ; the former, according to his custom, 

 walking ahead on foot, and Rensberg behind with 

 the cart. Sinclair had three or four boys with 

 him, all wild Mombakush, and quite untrustworthy 

 at a pinch. They came suddenly on a big pack 

 of lions, perhaps half a dozen or more, who had 

 just killed a roan right on the track. Sinclair, 

 who had only with him his service Lee-Metford, 

 fired, shooting one, a lioness, through the body ; 

 thereupon the lions all bolted, the wounded 

 lioness, evidently very hard hit, retiring slowly 

 by herself. 



Sinclair, having an excellent heavy rifle, a 

 •470 (his favourite elephant gun in fact), on the 

 wagon, now sent a boy back for this, as he knew 

 well the danger of a charge at close quarters with 

 only a -303 in his hand. Unfortunately, through 

 some mistake, he had on his own belt the key of 



