Ill 
CAMPING A T MOUNT KENIA 
73 
shot at her chest. I did not neglect it. I had already taken 
my double .577 from Squareface and slipped in two hollow 
bullet cartridges (a most reliable way to be armed against lions) 
so I at once sent one of these smashing balls just into the 
junction of the neck and chest, dropping her stone dead. But 
the first lioness was not dead yet ; so, not wishing to waste 
more of my valuable cartridges, I took my “ cripple-stopper ” 
(as I call a Martini-Henry one of my men always carries for 
finishing off disabled elephants) and watched her a little while. 
To my surprise she stood up, and as she took a step I put a 
bullet into her shoulder, rolling her over again, growling and 
flinging her tail in the air. She now lay quite still for some 
time, so we went close up and I looked carefully at her with 
my glass at a distance of only some dozen yards. I could see 
her breathing regularly still, but as I felt sure she was helpless 
and at the point of death, we went round to inspect the other, 
which lay only a few yards on the far side of the first. We 
stood over this one, and were talking quite loud and considering 
whether we could get her under a tree to skin, when we heard 
the other lioness growl, and, looking round, I saw she had 
somewhat shifted her position. I at once gave her a raking 
shot from in front of and above her, finishing her tough life ; 
but before going right up to her and kicking her, I chucked a 
stone on to her head as a test. 
It was a hot job skinning them in the sun among the lava. 
The lioness I had to give four bullets to was a very old one, 
though in good condition ; the other in her prime and very fat. 
The fat came in handy to add to my stock of rhino and elephant 
fat for my lamp. But before skinning them I looked across 
the green plain below us ; and there, on the far side, skirting 
just inside the scattered bush, I saw a whole troop of lions, led 
by a grand old male, the rest either females or immature males, 
evidently coming from the zebra carcases. I counted up to 
ten, and then, before I had finished, they got mixed up among 
the bushes ; but I am certain there were at the very least (to 
