252 
A COLONY IN THE MAKING 
CHAP. 
the riding method, and by their unique knowledge of 
the habits and haunts of lion. 
Lions are very conservative in their selection of 
homes. Once a lion has chosen his lair, by no means 
the most obvious in the neighbourhood, he will stick 
very closely to it. What is more, if his lair be driven 
and the occupants killed, it is not improbable that their 
place will almost immediately be taken by others. 
When, therefore, a real lion expert discovers traces of 
lions, in a locality with which he is acquainted, either by 
hearing them at night or seeing their spoor, he will say 
at once that they are lying either in such and such a 
gully or on such and such a hill-side. 
Perhaps to the ordinary settler chance still affords 
the most usual method through which he may become 
the possessor of a lion skin. It may be that one 
evening, when returning from the pursuit of his 
dinner, he will turn the corner round a bush and find 
himself face to face with the quarry for which he has 
longed so earnestly, but for whose closer aquaintance he 
now feels suddenly somewhat less disposed. Or, 
again, one morning when about to set out the day’s 
work a native will stroll in to say that he has just seen 
a nice party of lions take refuge in a gully. While 
it is said with more or less truth that every lion- 
hunter will in the end be mauled if he persists long 
enough in the sport, a larger percentage of accidents 
takes place among irresponsible and inexperienced 
shooters, more especially when several such spirits are 
banded together. Two is, perhaps, the best number 
of guns to shoot a lion, though it is run close by 
one ; beyond two every gun adds to the chance of an 
accident. This is partly so because each man is 
apt to vie with his neighbour in daring, not to say 
