XVII 
CAMPING AT EL BOGOI 
401 
experience, how it ought to be done ; and when, immediately 
after sunset, I went down to put the cartridge in and cock the 
gun (it was one of the porters’ Snider carbines), I felt that the 
trap was well laid. The place was a most suitable one for the 
purpose, as there was hardly another opening, and such as there 
were we had endeavoured to block up. Only two donkeys 
turned up that day, and these we tied to trees instead of putting 
them in the kraal. 
The camp was hushed that night; not an Ndorobo was 
there, and my men were very quiet It was again cloudy and 
dark; but nothing happened till about 3 A.M. Then the 
stillness was suddenly broken by the loud explosion of the gun 
in the gully, followed almost simultaneously by savage growls 
and horrible groaning roars. At first the outburst of angry 
sounds was appalling, but though the noises continued with 
slight pauses for a considerable time, by degrees they became 
fainter and the intervals longer, until at last they died away 
altogether. There could be no doubt that one of the lions had 
shot itself; and what made me hopeful that the result had been 
fatal was the fact that all the uproar proceeded evidently from 
one spot, and that close to where the gun had been set. From 
the time when it ceased up to daybreak, the only sounds that 
could be heard there were occasional low grunts and the 
crunching of bones. These I supposed were produced by 
hyenas, which had been howling about, and one of which I saw, 
as soon as it got light, slinking off with distended belly, but 
it proved otherwise. 
As soon as it was fully light I went to see what had 
happened, followed by two or three of the men with their guns. 
On reaching the bank of the gully, which on our side sloped 
gradually (the opposite one being steep), so that I could over¬ 
look the narrow grassy space between our edge and the thicket 
under the tree where the gun was set, I caught sight of a lion’s 
ear sticking up among the grass. Though it did not move, I 
thought it best to make sure, so fired a shot into the spot 
2 D 
