316 
THE NEW AFRICA 
some tales of their inroads were related to us, while at night 
we frequently heard them roaring round the stockaded kraal 
encircling Stremboom’s private cattle close by our quarters. 
Hammar, who had hobbled down to the outlet of the lake 
one day with a shot-gun, intent upon providing a variation 
in our meat diet by shooting some duck, was much surprised 
to observe a troop of cattle rushing towards him in evident 
terror with their tails in the air, followed by what he took 
to be two large calves. The feeling of annoyance caused by 
the interruption to his sport was soon changed to one of 
wonder when he suddenly realised that the calves were two 
well-grown lions in full chase of the herd of cattle. He hastily 
stepped behind a convenient mimosa tree, and the cavalcade swept 
past him on both sides; while the lions, who had come within 
five yards before realising his proximity, suddenly jammed 
their forefeet in the ground to stop their headlong pace, 
ploughing up the sod with their mighty claws to within a few 
feet of Hammar’s tree. Standing prepared with his shot-gun 
for defensive measures, he thought it wise not to fire with shot 
unless pressed, and quietly watched until the lions turned tail 
and fled at a pace rivalling the pace they came up at, till they 
disappeared in the bushes. We went to look at the spot, not 
half-a-mile from camp, and found the footmarks just as Hammar 
had described the occurrence. 
Next afternoon at three o’clock a cattle herd came running 
in with the information that some lions had torn down an ox 
in the bush close by. We immediately proceeded to the spot, 
but the wary beasts had scented our approach as the wind was 
in the wrong quarter, and made off before we could get a shot 
at them. I set a gun-trap at the carcase for them, which 
through some mismanagement on my part failed to go off, 
although in the morning we found only the bones and a few 
scraps of the ox remaining, while the ground was trodden flat 
by many footmarks of different-sized lions, showing plainly that 
a large family must have taken part in the feast over-night at 
the carcass. 
