THE LION KILLED 



again I saw the dead Masai suddenly become alive. 

 He rushed out, giving utterance to some awfully bad 

 Masai language and holding up a bleeding hand. Then 

 Cole joined me, and I found out what had happened. 

 The Masai had thrown his spear clean through the 

 heart of the lion, dived in to get the tip of the tail, as 

 this constitutes ownership of the skin and mane ; but 

 the dog had hold of it first, and when he attempted 



ij to take it away she had bitten him. 

 But the lion was killed ! 



At once the spearmen began their dance of triumph, 

 chanting one of their weird dirges, their motions 

 growing more rapid, more hysterical every instant, 

 until at last they stopped. Two went mad, and then, 

 with one of the sudden changes of mood so typical of 

 the true savage, they gathered round their chief and 

 haggled as to who should or ought to have the skin. 

 There were so many claimants that almost any decision 

 would have proved unpopular. The chief was an 

 astute man. The little dog had held the lion's tail 



I all through, and therefore it was obvious, he declared, 

 that the skin belonged to the dog. 



It was a great fight, but there was one drawback 



, to it : I had not been able to take the photographs 



' I wanted. 



I was down again very badly with fever after the 

 fight and had a great struggle to get into camp, 



j which was pitched a couple of miles away. The 



203 



