AFRICAN GAME TRAILS 
AN ACCOUNT OF THE AFRICAN WANDERINGS OF AN AMERICAN 
HUNTER-NATURALIST 
BY THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
Illustrations from photographs by Kermit Roosevelt 'and other members 
OF THE EXPEDITION 
XI.—A NANDI LION HUNT—UGANDA, AND THE 
GREAT NYANZA LAKES 
T Sergoi Lake there is a 
store kept by Mr. Kirke, 
a South African of Scotch 
blood. With a kind 
courtesy which I cannot 
too highly appreciate he, 
with the equally cordial 
help of another settler, Mr. Skally—also 
a South African, but of Irish birth—and 
of the District Commissioner, Mr. Cor¬ 
bett, had arranged for a party of Nandi 
warriors to come over and show me how 
they hunted the lion. Two Dutch farm¬ 
ers, Boers, from the neighborhood, had 
also come; they were Messrs. Mouton and 
Jordaan, fine fellows both, the former hav¬ 
ing served with DeWet during the war. 
Mr. and Mrs. Corbett—who were hospi¬ 
tality itself—had also come to see the sport; 
and so had Captain Chapman, an English 
army officer who was taking a rest after 
several years’ service in Northern Nigeria. 
The Nandi are a warlike pastoral tribe, 
close kin to the Masai in blood and tongue, 
in weapons and in manner of life. They 
have long been accustomed to kill with the 
spear lions which become man eaters or 
which molest their cattle overmuch; and the 
peace which British rule has imposed upon 
them—a peace so welcome to the weaker, 
so irksome to the predatory, tribes—has 
left lion killing one of the few pursuits in 
which glory can be won by a young war¬ 
rior. When it was told them that if they 
wished they could come to hunt lions at 
Sergoi eight hundred warriors volunteered, 
and much heartburning was caused in 
choosing the sixty or seventy who were al¬ 
lowed the privilege. They stipulated, how¬ 
ever, that they should not be used merely as 
beaters, but should kill the lion themselves, 
and refused to come unless with this under¬ 
standing. 
The day before we reached Sergoi they 
had gone out, and had killed a lion and 
lioness; the beasts were put up from a 
small covert and despatched with the heavy 
throwing spears on the instant, before they 
offered, or indeed had the chance to offer, 
any resistance. The day after our arrival 
there was mist and cold rain, and we found 
no lions. Next day, November 20th, we 
were successful. 
We started immediately after breakfast. 
Kirke, Skally, Mouton, Jordaan, Mr. and 
Mrs. Corbett, Captain Chapman, and our 
party, were on horseback; of course we 
carried our rifles, but our duty was merely 
to round up the lion and hold him, if he 
went off so far in advance that even the 
Nandi runners could not overtake him. 
We intended to beat the country toward 
some shallow, swampy valleys twelve miles 
distant. 
In an hour we overtook the Nandi war¬ 
riors, who were advancing across the roll¬ 
ing, grassy plains in a long line, with in¬ 
tervals of six or eight yards between the 
men. They were splendid savages, stark 
naked, lithe as panthers, the muscles rip¬ 
pling under their smooth dark skins; all their 
lives they had lived on nothing but animal 
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