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to tip 19 inches); and missed a very big male. When we 
camped, I pulled out the lions from their cage of wicker- 
work, which we had constructed for them, and, tying ropes 
round their necks, secured them to two tent-pegs and let 
them play. It was a very pretty sight to see them clawing, 
biting and rolling over each other like two young kittens. 
The male measured 30 inches, and the female 29 inches, 
from tip of nose to tip of tail. 
Next morning I started early to look for lions reported 
in the thick bush, but it was like looking for needles in a 
load of hay. I returned without seeing a single track, but 
I shot an ‘ owl ’ with a poor head, as it jumped across one 
with a good head just as I pulled the trigger. 
After breakfast, being short of meat, I went out upon the 
open plain with my syce and a stalking-camel, both my 
shikaris crying oft‘ on account of fever. After a grand 
chase I succeeded in shooting a wounded hartebeest through 
the neck with my revolver from the saddle. 
The whole of the next day I spent upon the plain, where 
oryx, ‘owl,’ and hartebeest ‘jist jostled each other’; but so 
wild were they that I succeeded in shooting one hartebeest 
only- 
In the evening I again amused myself by playing with 
the lions, a rather painful amusement, I discovered, as they 
bit and scratched my hands terribly. I found that their 
scratch was much worse than their bite, festering, and 
taking a long time to heal. The female was far more 
savage than the male. 
Next morning we marched off the plain into thick bush, 
and pitched camp near a village, where a lion was reported. 
This, for a wonder, turned out to be true, as we found a 
half-eaten camel close by. The villagers reported that the 
lion had killed seven camels round about in the last six 
days. With walking through the long grass my legs were 
infested with ticks, which had to be picked out of my flesh 
every night one by one. I built two zarebas in which to 
watch for the lion, but the night turned out to be one of 
