i86 
SOMALILAND 
awoke to hear the news that our friend the lion had, for 
the third time, come close to me, but without calling, and 
had taken a goat from the next village, a few hundred 
yards away. This animal appeared to be remarkably 
cunning. He never visited the same zareba two nights 
in succession. Sleepy and tired as I was, I was determined 
to track him, and soon found the spoor. 
On the way we passed a caravan which brought the 
news that Mr. and Mrs. Stanford were on their way here. 
The lion track was clear enough, as the feet of the goat he 
carried in his mouth trailed along the ground. 
Presently we came upon the contents of the stomach of 
the goat, and soon after two of the feet and leg bones care- 
fully cleaned of flesh. He then led us into most uninviting 
thick bush, when it became very exciting. I was walking 
close beside my shikari, when a magnificent lion with very 
dark mane and skin jumped cat-like out of a thick patch of 
high grass, and vanished in the bushes before I could get 
the rifle up to my shoulder. He must have been within 
12 or 15 yards of me, but so quickly did he vanish that I 
hadn’t the ghost of a chance, though I ran forward the 
moment I sighted him. He did not appear to have seen us, 
nor did he utter a sound. I was very dejected, but the 
men all said they were very glad I had not fired, as he 
would give me a better chance later on. 
Well, we tracked that lion for what appeared to me to 
be miles from that bush which contained the head and 
neck of the goat, but at the end of an hour and a half I 
found myself again at the bush, the lion having described a 
large circle and come back to the goat. He had not 
touched it further, however, and we now found by his 
spoor that he was tracking us. However, he soon left our 
spoor, and after pottering about a good deal, he must have 
either heard us coming or got our wind, for his track 
suddenly showed that he had begun to run. At length we 
emerged from the terribly thick bush on to a grassy plain 
thinly covered with small bushes. I knew then that he 
