IV 



TRAVELS IN EASTERN AFRICA 



143 



entire journey, never seemed tested to their utmost. 

 The trajectory of a bullet fired from one of these rifles 

 seemed to be perfectly flat for any distance at which the 

 eye could see the object. 



After we had crossed the Guaso Nyiro I had an inter- 

 esting adventure with a lion. It had rained during the 

 morning, and in consequence the soil had become a sea 

 of clinging mud. I was some distance in front of my 

 caravan, and had just shot a grantii, when my gun-bearer 

 and I heard some curious, whining noises in the bushes 

 to our left. He (Karscho) said he thought there was a 

 hyena about ; so we approached cautiously in the direc- 

 tion from which we had heard the noise. Suddenly 

 Karscho seized my arm, pointed to the right, and whis- 

 pered in an excited manner, "vS/;;^^^" ("lion"); and there 

 I saw, standing and gazing calmly at us, a full-grown 

 animal, maneless, hence probably a female. I had fool- 

 ishly entrusted my gun to Karscho, and before I could 

 take it from his hands the lion w4ieeled and was off 

 through the bushes. We were after it at once. Its 

 great paws left prints in the mud as large as saucers, 

 so that pursuit was easy. It would run 100 yards or so, 

 and then hide in a bush, waiting our nearer approach, 

 when it would again break cover and be off once more, 

 but always on the opposite side of the bush from where 

 we stood, so that we never got a sight of the animal. 

 In this way we chased the lion for nearly half a mile, 

 until at length we came to a circular clump of bush, 

 some sixty feet in diameter and very dense. We circled 

 this clump, and found that the tracks of the animal led 

 into, but not out of it ; so I stationed myself down-wind, 

 and sent Karscho back to bring on my porters, with the 



