ch. xxvi ANIMALS WHICH PROVIDE SPORT 249 
accounted for, and the cry is still they come. More¬ 
over, this total makes no account of the large numbers 
which creep away to die from poison and other causes. 
It may be anticipated that as long as there is game 
about the lion will always be with us. He is a very 
prolific beast and also a very hungry one. The 
probability is that a great many more lions die from 
hunger while young than from any other cause. 
Therefore, up to a certain point, the more that are 
killed will only mean that a greater proportion will 
survive in the ordinary struggle for existence. Many 
authorities say that each lion kills on the average a 
beast once in four, three, or even two days. It seems 
to me that this must be an exaggeration, when one 
considers the great quantities of lions that exist in 
certain districts where troops of a dozen and over are 
quite common. If it were true there would not be 
enough, or nearly enough, animals in existence to 
supply their appetites. I would suggest that the 
shortest average interval between the kill of each adult 
lion is at least ten days. There is a possibility that a 
moderate amount of shooting actually increases the 
stock, as is the case with partridges. The large 
parties are divided up and a greater proportion of old 
males are killed off. 
Lions are mostly obtained by the following methods : 
—(1) Chance. (2) Riding down on horseback. 
(3) Tracking the spoor till the beast is marked down 
in a gully or clump of bushes from which it may be 
driven. (4) Laying out kills and visiting them at 
daybreak. (5) Sitting up over water or over a kill at 
night. (6) Spearing them, as is done by the Masai 
and Nandi. (7) Baying them with trained dogs. 
(8) Traps. (9) Poison. 
