46 MULE AND HORSE KILLED BY LIONS. [chap. ii. 



him ; the lion looked so savage, and walked so slowly 

 away, that my man crejit up the rocks, and waited 

 there for a long time, which accounted for his delay, 

 and then ran back to tell us. 



Andersson and myself took up our guns directly and 

 ran down, and the others after us. We went to the 

 chestnut mule — she had been left behind the night 

 before, and her instinct led her to climb dowTi to the 

 river bed, into which she seems to have been watched, 

 and seized by the lions the moment she got there. We 

 then followed the tracks on to the dead horse, the 

 mules and horses had all been galloping together : 

 there were distinct tracks of six Hons galloping by 

 their side, and then had been the fatal spring, and the 

 dead horse lay half eaten. The other lions gave over 

 their pursuit after a few paces. We next followed 

 the mule tracks until they lay sufficiently clear of one 

 another for us to count them, and see whether any 

 more besides the two animals we had seen were dead. 

 I was delighted to find nine tracks ; so that not only 

 the six mules, that had drawn the cart, and the little 

 horse were safe, but also the two remaining cart mules 

 which had been left on the road had found out their 

 fellows during the night, and joined them. I sent 

 Timboo and another man to fetch them back, and the 

 rest of us returned to cut off as much meat from the 

 mule and the horse as we could eat or carry, for we 

 were now without any animal food. We then climbed 

 up the cUff that overhimg the place where the mule 

 lay, to hide it out of the way of the hyenas and jackals, 

 until we were going back to the waggons. 



