ATTACKED BY A LION 
217 
pulled. When the smoke cleared there was nothing of him to 
be seen. One fact was certain, he was not running away 
anywhere; so, hurrying up to the spot, I found him lying behind 
the ant-heap, with his neck broken just above the shoulders—for 
I had slightly overjudged the distance—and his tail curling 
over his back, with the under-hair, that never had looked so 
beautiful before, spread out in the last spasmodic efforts of 
death. I yelled to the boys in the distance, and when they 
came up ordered that they should bring in every vestige of 
meat, letting them know that if they started to feed here, there 
would be an account to settle on coming home. With the liver 
slung over - my gun I went home first, and found Hammar 
roasting over the fire two delicious ducks, that he had just shot 
on the pan. How we did enjoy our breakfast, which was con¬ 
tinued into a regular feast when the boys came in with the 
meat, conscientiously bringing every particle with them ! The 
meat was shared out to each group of boys that messed together, 
and then there was a scene of quiet, solid feeding that lasted for 
hours, marked by an unusual silence that showed how keen was 
their hunger. Chiki and the boys who had followed me 
yesterday were much disgusted with themselves because they 
had stayed behind to rest, a fact they were more than once 
reminded of by the others who had taken their place, which they 
threatened to maintain in future. 
My legs, now they were at rest, pained me to such an extent 
that I could get no peace in any position for hours. The boys, 
however, massaged them with hot and cold water by turns, and 
this relieved the strain, till towards evening the pain was over. 
While I was out in the morning, the boys remaining behind went 
out and found a root they called mandarrara, which much 
resembled a coarse sweet potato in shape and flavour when 
baked on the coals, and proved a pleasant adjunct to our meal. 
That night, when we were all fast asleep, with the fires burn¬ 
ing low at our feet, we were waked by a most unearthly yell from 
one of the boys; and as we jumped up, the shout, ‘ Lions, lions,’ 
came from every mouth. The boys climbed up the trees in a 
