84 
IN AFRICA 
weeks northeast of Nairobi in what is called the 
Tana River country. While there are some lions 
in that section, as there are in most parts of British 
East Africa, it is not considered a good lion coun¬ 
try. Buffaloes, rhinos, hippos, giraffes, and many 
varieties of smaller game are abundant, largely be¬ 
cause the Tana River is in a bad fever belt and hunt¬ 
ing parties generally prefer to go elsewhere. This 
preliminary trip was intended to perfect our shoot- 
Peering for Lions 
ing, so that later, when in real lion country, we 
might be better equipped to take on the king of 
beasts with some promise of hitting him. 
The tree-tops and corrugated iron roofs of 
Nairobi had hardly dropped behind a long, sun- 
soaked hump of the Athi Plains when I began to 
peel my eyes inquiringly for lions. All the lion 
stories that I had heard for the preceding few 
months paraded back and forth in my memory, and 
if ever a horizon was thoroughly scanned for lion, 
that horizon just out of Nairobi was the one. 
