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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



the smal.Iv bambala. doorways often resemble; entrances to traps 



They are usually oblong openings. There is a special knack of getting into a hut, and 

 the stranger who has not acquired this is sometimes unable to get in or out. In size and 

 cleanliness, however, these huts compare favorably with those of many other tribes. 



latter take a considerable toll of the 

 weaker part of the population; they usu- 

 ally attack women or children. 



I heard of an English mining engineer 

 who lost his life through one of these 

 pests of the jungle. He was hunting 

 fowl when he found himself face to face 

 with the big cat and had no choice of 

 flight. He poured the contents of both 

 barrels of a shotgun into the animal, but 

 the leopard sprang at him, knocked him 

 down, and inflicted terrible wounds. 



The man attempted to reach his hunt- 

 ing knife, but whenever he made the 

 slightest movement the leopard, which 

 was lying on him, mauled him furiously. 



After some time the jungle cat became 

 weaker, and the Englishman succeeded in 

 drawing his knife and stabbing it to 

 death. When the rescuing party sent out 

 to search for the hunter arrived, he was 

 found lying upon the ground with the 

 leopard still covering him, as he had not 

 the strength to shake off the brute, and 

 he was trying with his injured hand to 

 roll a cigarette. Two hours later he died 

 from loss of blood. 



In my time the community of Pweto 

 was outside the tsetse-fly belt, and we 

 were able to keep cattle, our herd in- 

 creasing splendidly. Lions never came 

 near the place, and the hyenas, whose 

 howling we heard every night, dared not 

 enter the kraal. Our donkeys slept in the 

 open, and one night a hyena attempted to 

 carry off a foal; but it had gone to the 

 wrong address, and the next morning we 

 found the aggressor with its brains 

 kicked out. 



IN THE COUNTRY OE THE DESTRUCTIVE 

 TSETSE-EEY 



Some years later the destructive fly in- 

 vaded this region and all the cattle were 

 destroyed. The sleeping sickness made 

 its appearance, and lions, too, had come, 

 the latter in such number and with such 

 impudence that it became necessary to 

 post sentries at night, the men standing 

 guard on the roofs of the houses. 



What lions will do when they get into 

 man-eating habits, I had occasion to ex- 

 perience on the Eukumbi River. Coming 



