LION HUNTING ON THE KAPITI PLAINS 61 
beast left him and ran off into the darkness. In spite of his 
torn hand the major was determined to get his assailant, 
which he felt sure would soon return. Accordingly, he 
went back to his bed, drew his cocked rifle beside him, 
pointing toward his feet, and feigned sleep. When all 
was still once more, a dim form loomed up through the 
uncertain light, toward the foot of the bed; it was the rav¬ 
enous beast returning for his prey; and the major shot and 
killed it where it stood. 
A few months ago a hyena entered the outskirts of 
Nairobi, crept into a hut, and seized and killed a native 
man. At Nairobi the wild creatures are always at the 
threshold of the town, and often cross it. At Governor 
Jackson’s table, at Government House, I met Mr. and 
Mrs. Sandiford. Mr. Sandiford is managing the railroad. 
A few months previously, while he was sitting, with his 
family, in his own house in Nairobi, he happened to ask 
his daughter to look for something in one of the bedrooms. 
She returned in a minute, quietly remarking, ‘‘Father, 
there’s a leopard under the bed.” So there was; and it 
was then remembered that the house-cat had been showing 
a marked and alert distrust of the room in question—very 
probably the leopard had gotten into the house while try¬ 
ing to catch her or one of the dogs. A neighbor with a rifle 
was summoned, and shot the leopard. 
Hyenas not infrequently kill mules and donkeys, tear¬ 
ing open their bellies, and eating them while they are still 
alive. Yet when themselves assailed they usually behave 
with abject cowardice. The Hills had a large Airedale 
terrier, an energetic dog of much courage. Not long before 
our visit this dog put up a hyena from a bushy ravine, in 
