XVI 
THE LION 
207 
The most instructive piece of information I have 
been able to obtain concerning the power of the 
lion’s paw to inflict a blow was furnished to me by 
Mr. Glazebrook. 
Lions are sometimes shot at night by what may be 
called the boma method. It is carried out in the 
following manner :— 
A boma capable of containing three men, the hunter 
and two boys, is made of thorn trees. A donkey is 
hobbled close to the boma ; the hobbling consists in 
binding the hind-legs together by means of a rope ; 
the foredegs are also tied together and the loose ends of 
rope are buried in a hole in the ground and made secure, 
so that the donkey cannot move and no rope is visible. 
A bole made in the thorn fence enables the hunter inside 
to command with his rifle the area occupied by the 
donkey. The men watch in turn ; if anything is heard 
it is communicated to the hunter by pinching his foot, 
snoring and whispering are inadmissible. 
This manoeuvre is best carried out on a dark night. 
The lion and all marauding mammals hate the moon. 
The earth’s satellite must upset the calculations of 
hungry carnivora ; they have no nautical almanac to 
inform them of its rising and setting. 
On this occasion the hunter, after peering through 
the hole in the boma for two hours, fell asleep : the 
gun-bearer awakened him by pinching his foot, and he 
became aware of somethin 2 ; moving on the ground 
rapidly, and this movement was followed by a tre¬ 
mendous crash. He could dimly discern a huge form 
standing over another form lying on the ground. He 
fired his heavy rifle at the dark object : this was 
followed by a heavy fall. On peering through the hole 
he could make out the donkey standing up. 
At dawn, the lion was lying close up to the wall of 
the boma, dead. The bullet had entered its head. 
The donkey appeared to be uninjured, except for a few 
claw marks about its ears; it was released from its 
