194 THE BONDS OF AFRICA 



too late to find the lions which had been there. 

 However, the Somalis soon picked up fresh spoor, 

 and the clever hunter-boys waxed eager and 

 excited. The Somalis are brave and fearless 

 to a degree — at least the great majority of them 

 are— and are also highly intelligent. Were it 

 not for their excitability they would make 

 absolutely ideal " shikaris." We were following 

 in the track of a number of lions; spooring was 

 easy, and we marched along at a good pace. 

 At last, while approaching a tree-clad mass of 

 rocks, I heard a low grunt. We halted for a 

 moment, and then Cabara, frantic with the 

 passion of the hunt, rushed up the side of the 

 little hillock. We followed, and I saw tan- 

 coloured objects moving between the bushes. 

 The SomaUs yelled " Shoot ! shoot ! " Foolishly 

 I allowed myself to be hurried by their yells, 

 and fired two shots in quick succession. To 

 my intense disgust both were clean misses ! 

 The next instant a magnificent black-maned 

 lion burst cover and dashed away before I could 

 get my rifle-sight on him. Then for a moment 

 the bush appeared to be literally alive with lions. 

 Great yellow hound-shaped forms growled and 

 snarled and bolted in all directions. We had 

 walked almost into a large slumbering family 

 of Kings and Queens of beasts, attended by a 

 regular nursery of Princes and Princesses. I 

 singled out what I took to be a fair-sized lioness, 

 and had the satisfaction of hearing my bullet 

 get home. A wicked snarl followed, and the 

 animal dashed away. Elmi seized my arm and 

 implored me to shoot, saying I had wounded a 

 lioness and she was about to charge. I could 

 hear the angry growls and snarls, but strain my 

 eyes as I would I could not see the animal. 



