26 
In the Heart of Africa 
and lions alone were to be fired at—the elephant is never met 
with in these parts—I knew that the shots could only mean 
buffalo or lion. So I turned back hurriedly, and soon caught 
sight of Wintgens accompanied by two Askari coming towards 
me with rifles at the ready. '' Bana Lieutenant amefiga simba ” 
(“ the Herr Lieutenant has shot a lion ”) shouted an Askari from 
the distance. 
“ Where is he hiding ? ” I asked. 
“ I do not know ; we have lost him here by the mountain.” 
‘‘ Did he not stand up in front of you ? ” 
“ No ; and we have not seen the grass moving either.” 
“ Then he must be close by.” 
“ Quite near, bana” 
There could be no doubt that the lion was lying between 
Wintgens and me. It seemed almost as if his pursuers had 
passed over him as he was crouching in the grass. As Wintgens 
came up with me without sighting the quarry, the latter possibility 
was the only feasible one. Having snatched my gun from the 
hands of my boy, who had rushed up breathless, we placed our 
followers in position again, and walked back across the same 
locality. Suddenly one of the Askari at my side stopped sharply, 
and, with characteristic gesture, pointed his index-finger half 
right to where the steppe merged into the tall reed-grass by the 
river, and, snapping finger and thumb together, yelled out with 
eyes staring and a long-drawn “ aa-aa-aa,” ^^Tasama, bana 
sultani, simba 7vengi, wengi Sana ” (“ Look, bana sultani, many, 
many lions! ”). Indeed, I actually beheld five lions hurrying to 
the protecting river with that heavy, slouching gait peculiar 
to their kind. This meant a good, smart run for us if we were 
to cut off their retreat, for once in the high sedge they were as 
good as lost.. As the troop happened to be nearest Wintgens, he 
got there first. With one shot through the head, he finished the 
earthly career of a lioness. One of the others, which spun round, 
vanished into the reeds. With two Askari and a boy I followed 
up a third trail, which showed distinctly in the grass for a 
few hundred feet till it disappeared in the bush. We now circled 
