68 
LION-HUNTING 
[CH. Ill 
my visit Harold Hill had met with a rather unpleasant 
adventure. He was walking home across the lonely 
plains in the broad daylight, never dreaming that lions 
might be abroad, and was unarmed. When still some 
miles from his house, while plodding along, he glanced 
up and saw three lions in the trail only fifty yards off, 
staring fixedly at him. It happened to be a place where 
the grass was rather tall, and lions are always bold where 
there is the slightest cover; whereas, unless angered, 
they are cautious on bare ground. He halted, and then 
walked slowly to one side, and then slowly forward 
toward his house. The lions followed him with their 
eyes, and when he had passed they rose and slouched 
after him. They were not pleasant followers, but to 
hurry would have been fatal; and he walked slowly on 
along the road, while for a mile he kept catching 
glimpses of the tawny bodies of the beasts as they trod 
stealthily forward through the sunburned grass along¬ 
side or a little behind him. Then the grass grew short, 
and the lions halted and continued to gaze after him 
until he disappeared over a rise. 
Everywhere throughout the country we were crossing 
were signs that the lion was lord, and that his reign was 
cruel. There were many lions, for the game on which 
they feed was extraordinarily abundant. They occasion¬ 
ally took the ostriches or stock of the settlers, or ravaged 
the herds and flocks of the natives, but not often; for 
their favourite food was yielded by the swarming herds 
of kongoni and zebras, on which they could prey at 
will. Later we found that in this region they rarely 
molested the buffalo, even where they lived in the same 
reed-beds ; and this though elsewhere they habitually 
prey on the buffalo. But where zebras and hartebeests 
could be obtained without effort, it was evidently not 
