Untrodden Paths 
27 
round the scrub for a while, but as no trails could be discerned 
leading out of it, we concluded that the lion must still be lying 
there, only a few yards away from us. What was to be done ? 
Ordering the Askari to get to the other side of the scrub and try 
to scare the lion out by yelling, I took up my position just a little 
way off. One of the Askari, a Masai, who, after his soldiering 
experiences, was not particularly enamoured of peaceful pursuits 
—a splendid, grand-looking fellow like all his warlike race, and 
my constant companion in all my roamings—approached the 
scrub in most fearless fashion in order to ascertain what it 
concealed. On a sudden the blood-curdling roar of a lion 
resounded three times in quick succession, and the beast sprang 
out with flattened ears and gaping jaws right among us. We all 
fell back, except the Masai, who was a few paces off on my left. 
Shouting aloud and mad with excitement, he stretched out his 
left arm, in which he held his rifle, against the lion. But the 
beast seized him in the twinkling of an eye. One paw smashed 
down on the arm, whilst the jaws buried themselves in the hips 
of the unhappy man. The next moment they were rolling 
together like a ball on the ground. At the same instant I raised 
my gun to my shoulder and gave the lion a bullet at five 
paces; but in the hurry and excitement the aim was bad, and 
the beast with two great bounds fled back growling into the 
scrub before I had time to think of a second shot. 
The Masai lay on the ground streaming with blood, but had 
sustained no really serious injuries; his left arm, into which the 
lion had dug his claw, was rather severely mauled, and the left 
side bore the scars of the bite for many a long day. I hastened 
to bandage the nearly senseless man as best I could with my 
handkerchief, so as to staunch the flow of blood. A draught of 
water, coupled with the incredible stoicism of the black man in 
the face of wounds and injuries, enabled him to recuperate so 
quickly that he was able to sustain the five-hour return journey 
to the camp without collapsing. 
Shortly after, whilst engaged on a search for the wounded 
lion, I was very much struck by the pluck evinced by the black 
