CHAPTER XXVI 
ANIMALS WHICH PROVIDE SPORT 
The Lion .—Lions are distributed in greater or 
lesser quantities throughout every portion of the 
Protectorate, civilised and uncivilised. He may be 
heard on the mainland from the island of Mombasa. 
He wanders round the shores of the Great Lake. He 
lives in great numbers on the barren deserts to the 
north. He still invades, not only the golf-course 
which adjoins Nairobi, but even during a severe 
drought the very town itself. Everyone sees at least 
one lion from the windows of the first train that takes 
him into the country. No one sees him from the 
train that takes him out. And what we should do 
without him in the bars and clubs and other places 
where drink and gossip abound 1 shudder to think. 
One of the most curious of the many curious facts 
about the lion is the way in which his numbers are 
kept up, if not actually increased. In 1905 about 
forty lions were killed ; a number far in advance of 
any previous total. We were told that his extermin¬ 
ation was at hand; and big game shooters were 
advised to hurry up and make the most of their 
chance, since a year or two would see the lion a rara 
avis indeed. 
In 1910 and 1911 no less than 795 lions were 
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