VII 
MAN-EATING LIONS 
7i 
more than a couple of hundred yards distant. The 
homeward path lay through dense grass, and as they 
sauntered back the girl, who walked a little in 
advance of her mother, all of a sudden heard a 
terrified shriek and a fierce growl, and turning round, 
saw a lion seize her mother by the thigh, fling her to 
the ground and bite her through the neck. Yelling, 
‘ Simba mama wae ! ’ (Lion, my mother!) she 
immediately rushed to her hut, only about a score 
of yards away, and the villagers living close by, hear¬ 
ing her piteous cries, snatched up their spears and 
quickly appeared on the scene. By this time, the 
lion had dragged the unfortunate woman into the 
long grass and could be heard devouring the body 
some twenty or thirty yards from the path, but to 
penetrate such a bush after a man-eating lion was 
an undertaking upon which they would not venture. 
Knowing that I was encamped near the village, 
they decided to appeal to me for assistance and 
without further delay came running to my tent 
and excitedly explained to me what had actually 
occurred. Snatching up my double *577, and 
taking particular care to insert cartridges with 
capped, expanding bullets, I hastened to the spot 
where the native woman had been killed, and 
holding my rifle in front of me, ready for instant 
action, I stealthily entered the long grass, my 
tracker, Simba, armed with a spear, following me as 
