BRITISH EAST AFRICA 229 



crossed. That same evening we halted at the 

 Sibi, where we found an American " safari " 

 encamped under the guidance of Outram, a 

 professional white hunter. 



Two days afterwards we had descended the 

 escarpment of the Mau and were trekking across 

 the Suswa plains. At midday I left the wagon 

 and brought down a fine Grant's gazelle, and 

 then, as rain was falling, hastened on to where 

 camp had been pitched under the brow of Suswa. 



A quarter of a mile away Messrs. Stern and 

 Webb's " safari " was encamped, and the porters 

 from each expedition were carrying water from 

 a little rill that ran amongst the Suswa foothills. 

 I was just commencing lunch when Jusef, the 

 Somali headman, rushed up to me breathless with 

 the information that one of the " Bwana Webb's " 

 boys, whilst searching for water up towards 

 the base of the mountain, and not more than half 

 a mile away, had seen a lion. Hastily seizing 

 a rifle and calling Chama, I bolted off in the 

 direction indicated by Jusef, and joined Stern and 

 Webb, who were tearing over the rocky ground 

 to where a solitary " pagazi " was perched on a 

 little eminence. He was shouting and pointing 

 towards where the "nek" of Suswa ran down 

 to meet the plain at the foot of the Kikuyu 

 escarpment. We raced up to him, and ascer- 

 tained that down in the ravine below us he had 

 been filling up his water-bottles when he suddenly 

 became aware of the presence of a lion standing 

 some yards away from him. For a few moments 

 the boy and the King of Beasts stood facing one 

 another, and then with a few grunts the lion had 

 bounded aAvay. 



The native pointed to a small hillock on the 

 top of which he said he had last seen the beast. 



