ROOSEVELT IN WILDS OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA 
399 
antagonist it has become well aware, and will usually avoid an 
encounter with him except when cornered or when a wound has 
aroused its ferocious spirit. If, however, it has once had a taste of 
human blood its eagerness to make man its prey is such as to overcome 
all sense of danger and it becomes a persistent and deadly hunter of the 
human invaders of its haunts. 
The natural desire of the American hunter to cope with this lord 
of the African wilds was quickly gratified, Sir Alfred Pease inviting 
his guest to spend a day in lion hunting shortly after the latter had 
reached the ranch of his host on the Athi River. With Sir Alfred as 
guide, Roosevelt and some members of his party, accompanied by the 
usual native aids and hunting dogs, set out on their pioneer lion hunt. 
The Americans were naturally eager and excited. A new and perilous 
experience was before them. Roosevelt had brought down many 
specimens of every game animal of which America can boast, not 
omitting the ferocious grizzly bear, yet he had never coped with a 
creature of the fame of the lion, and his heart throbbed with anticipa¬ 
tion when the behavior of the dogs showed that the scent of this 
creature was in the air. 
Their way had led down a dry water course, the natives throwing 
stones into each patch of bushes they met in the hope of stirring up 
some lurking brute. The honors of the day were reserved by Sir 
Alfred for his guest, and when the growling alertness of the dogs 
showed that the prey they sought was close at hand, Sir Alfred fixed 
his eyes on a nearby covert in which he had caught significant signs of 
game. “Shoot!” he called out to his guest. 
Roosevelt gazed intently into the clump of bushes close beside him 
and caught through the green leaves indistinct glimpses of a tawny 
hide. Without an instant's hesitation he raised his piece and fired, 
Kermit following with a second shot. The next instant there bounded 
out of the bushes two wounded animals of the size of a large dog. 
They were lion cubs which had been hiding there apart from their 
dam and met with their fate in consequence. 
Disappointed at this unsatisfactory outcome of their first effort to 
bag a lion, the hunters rode on to another donga, or shallow water 
course, first making sure of the death of the cubs. In every case pos- 
