African Game Trails 
15 
ropaica,” wherever it obtains in German, 
French, or English Africa, is a great in¬ 
crease of intercourse, commercial and so¬ 
cial, among the different tribes, even where 
widely separated. This caravan had been 
followed by lions; and a day of two after¬ 
ward Kermit and Tarlton ran into what 
were probably these very lions. There 
were eleven of them: a male with a heavy 
mane, three lionesses, and seven cubs, 
some of them about half grown. As Ker¬ 
mit and Tarlton galloped after them, the 
lion took the lead, the cubs coming in the 
middle, while the three lionesses loped 
along in the rear, guarding their young. 
The lion cared little for his wives and 
offspring, and gradually drew ahead of 
them, while the two horsemen, riding at 
full speed, made a wide detour round the 
others in order to reach him; so that at 
last they got between him and the ten lion¬ 
esses and cubs, the big lion coming first, 
the horsemen next, and then the lesser 
lions, all headed the same way. As the 
horse-hooves thundered closer the lion 
turned to bay. Kermit—whose horse had 
once fallen with him in the chase—and 
Tarlton leaped off their horses, and Kermit 
hit the lion with his first shot, and, as it 
started to charge, mortally wounded it with 
a second bullet. It turned and tried to 
reach cover, and Tarlton stopped it with a 
third shot; for there was no time to lose, as 
they wished to tackle the other lions. After 
a sharp gallop they rounded up the lion¬ 
esses and cubs. Kermit killed one large 
cub, which they mistook for a lioness; 
wounded a lioness which for the time being 
escaped; killed another with a single 
bullet from his 30-40 Winchester—for the 
others he used his 405 Winchester—and 
hit the third as she crouched facing him at 
two hundred yards. She at once came in 
at full speed, making a most determined 
charge. Kermit and Tarlton were stand¬ 
ing near their horses. The lioness came on 
with great bounds so that Kermit missed 
her twice, but broke her shoulder high up 
when she was but thirty yards off. She fell 
on her head and, on rising, galloped, not 
at the men, but at the horses, who, curi¬ 
ously enough, paid no heed to her. Tarl¬ 
ton stopped her with a bullet in the nick 
of time, just before she reached them, and 
with another bullet Kermit killed her. Two 
days later they came on the remaining cubs 
