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lage. Already it presented a very different aspect from the Mitimoni I had known but three short months previously. Everywhere was desolation. Houses empty, crops uncared for, and no work at all being done in the fields. We took over the late Gombameti's house, and breached the walls for our rifles. It was a good strong house, standing in the exact centre of the village, and commanding a good field of fire in every direction. As the moon was at the full just about this time, we thought we might possibly get a chance at it in the moonlight if the lion should happen to come again sniffing around Gombameti's house during the night.

Our arrival was the signal for great rejoicing in the village. I believe they looked upon us as their deliverers. At any rate, our boys were fêted and feasted in a manner that quickly earned their entire approbation. Unfortunately for everybody, our very first night in residence was marked by the next tragedy, for a woman was taken from an outlying house. We heard the sudden uproar, and ran to the spot, but were too late to do anything. The next day we followed up the spoor, and were successful in recovering the remains; but of the lion we found no trace.

After that there were no further signs of the lions for six days, and we thought they must have disappeared altogether. On the seventh day we decided to leave, and issued instructions for our kit to be

packed, but so great was the outcry from the villagers when they heard of our decision that we cancelled our arrangements, and definitely decided on a further three days' stay.

Opposite Gombameti's house stood the house of one Ufupu. Now Ufupu was the local potter, and his drying-ground was also a favourite playground with the village children. They would scamper about all day in and out among the great pots until a sudden crash would bring Ufupu to his door with a rush. Here he would stand and curse the startled children to all eternity, but the moment his back was turned they would return to the fray. The house itself was enclosed on three sides by the gardens, and the long ten-feet Indian corn grew to within a pace or so of the very walls. The remaining side, with the doorway, fronted on to the drying-ground and the village square.

Late in the afternoon of the day after our decision to stay, R. was sitting out on the verandah of our house reading. The book was not very interesting (he had read it at least ten times before, but literature in the bush is very precious-and very scarce), and presently he laid it down on his knees and fell to watching the children playing among Ufupu's pots. Of a sudden there was a rattle in the long corn. The children sprang away with terrified cries and ran towards the doorway, but it was too late. An immense lion leapt from the shelter of the corn, and seizing

the nearest child in its mouth, turned and was gone. It was all over in a flash. Just one single scream of fear and the lion and the child had vanished. I was inside, in my bath, when R. crashed into the room and seizing his rifle, disappeared, leaving the door on the ground where it had fallen, and myself in my bath on full view to the village. I was furious at this outraging of what R. facetiously called my "second principle of sahibdom," and, clutching my towel round me, called wildly to Selimani to put up the door again. The only answer I got was from a woman, who suddenly dived into the room and hid herself in one corner, sobbing loudly! In the intervals of calling for Selimani I ordered the woman outside, but the louder I cursed the louder she sobbed, and Selimani not putting in an appearance, I rose from my bath, like Cytherea from the Ægean Sea, and wrapped in the simple dignity of a badly-torn bath-towel, forcibly ejected the shrieking female from the house and banged the door.

Up till now I had been so occupied with my own affair that I had clean forgotten R.'s hasty exit or the raison d'être of it. As it flashed across my mind again I hastily dragged on my boots and clothes, and taking a rifle, sallied into the village to find out the trouble. A small knot of villagers was gathered round the house of Ufupu, and they gave me the first news of the lion, and also

of the fact that R. had gone after it. Taking one of the men with me as a guide, I started off and scotched up my partner as hard as I could go. Before very long I found him, and he told me the history of the affair as I have recounted it here.

We followed the spoor for over two miles; and those folk who say that a lion cannot carry its kill for any distance know simply nothing about lions.

It is marvellous the distance they can drag a kill. In this instance we followed a full two miles before the fading light compelled us to return.

That night we sat in our house in consultation with Selimani. The wrath of the villagers at this latest exploit knew no bounds, and they were beginning to regard us with a vast distaste. Nothing would persuade them that it was not my fault. I had loosed the dogs on the village, and now I could not control them. That, briefly, was what they thought. For our own part we were at our wits' end. So bold had the man-eaters become that one could not cope with them. Traps they avoided like the plague, and they had an uncanny instinct which appeared to warn them when we were about. Added to this, they hunted day and night. They had no set hours, and a daylight raider is immeasurably more difficult to deal with than a night raider. In the end we decided that the only thing to do was to stay in the village another day or two on

the chance of catching him red-handed - or rather, redmouthed—and, failing that, to take our departure.

As luck would have it, we were still in bed next morning when a fearful commotion arose at the other end of the village. Immediately we were out of the house, and racing madly across the square. A handful of wildly gesticulating natives were gathered in front of a house situated some little way behind the local prayer hut. "The lion, Bwana," they shouted as we raced up. "Where?" "Gone away! Look !!!"

while we ran back to our house to dress, Selimani went on with his investigation. When we returned he had already reconstructed the drama of the morning.

"You see, Bwana, the woman was standing here crushing her food for the mid-day meal. The lion came from here," and he indicated a spot in the mealie patch where the stalks were trodden down. “The woman heard it in the mealies, and turned, but the lion sprang at her. This woman, Bwana, was like a man, because she hit the lion hard with There!! pestle. Look at this!"-and at one end of the pestle were a few hairs and stains-" that's why the lion is lame. I think she hit it on the foot."

We looked through an opening in the mealie patch away into the bush, where they were pointing, but could see nothing. Looking back at the house I noticed that a heavy wooden pestle lay on the ground just in front of it, and on the verandah I noticed a few spots of blood.

"Why, it's got somebody, then?" I asked, turning to the one remaining policeman, who happened to be standing

near me.

"Ay ! But it's only a woman!" answered the constable.

I snorted, and at that moment Selimani, who had been following the spoor into the bush, returned with a mystified expression on his face.

her

"Sherlock Holmes," breathed R. "Still, it looks all right."

Accompanied by the majority of the men we started off. It was an easy trail to follow, and, sure enough, the spoor was the spoor of a lame animal. Several times we came to patches of trodden-down grass, where the lion had evidently laid down his burden for a rest. For over a mile we followed at a good round pace, and then Selimani stopped.

"I think it is near here," he whispered, and motioning the followers back, we crept forward cautiously, alone.

For some two hundred yards we crept silently through the long grass, and of a sudden came out into a perfect English meadow. The grass was green and short, and a little brook Here was good news, and trickled gently through the

"Bwana," said he, "that lion is lame. Its foot is bleeding-its front foot. It will not go very far."

centre. Beyond the brook was a heavy line of boulders, and towards these we made our way, keeping a cautious lookout for any sign of the lion. As we crossed the brook I happened to glance back, and I noticed that the villagers had already taken to the high trees. A movement to one side caught my attention, and I saw that one of the boys was gesticulating violently, and stabbing the air in a direction quarter-right from our line of progression.

away from us, and was blissfully unconscious of our presence; nor was there any sign of the woman he had captured. It was always "first sight, first shot" in our camp, and I glanced across at R. Having first scratched himself, monkey fashion-his invariable habit when he wanted to show his pleasure-he laid his rifle alongside the boulder. I did the same with mine, and waited. Crack!" went R.'s rifle, and the lion jumped to his feet with a roar.

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"Crack!" went mine on the instant, and he swung round to meet us.

Tapping Selimani on the shoulder, I pointed out this particular boy to him. For a second he watched him, and then, putting his lips to my ear, he whispered. "They can see it, Bwana, expectantly, but there was no over there."

I motioned to R., and, ramming a round into the breech of our rifles, we crept along in the direction indicated, while Selimani turned back and made for the line of trees, where he, too, was soon safely ensconced. (Selimani never took any unnecessary risks.)

Arriving at the boulders, R. removed his helmet and peered cautiously over the top. In a flash he was down again, and it did not need the wild jabs of his finger in the air for me to understand that he had seen the lion.

"Crack! went R.'s again. The lion staggered and rolled completely over. I waited,

further movement, and I glanced at my partner. He nodded his head, and together we rose and moved carefully forward. R. put another shot into him at twenty yards but it was quite unnecessary, for the lion was stone dead.

As we came right up to it we heard a noise behind us. With fearful yells the villagers were coming on like a pack of wolves, and before we could prevent it, they had plunged their spears into the carcass and literally torn it to pieces. It was a great pity because, apart from being a fine skin, it had such a good history attached to it. Anyway, it was ruined, and our day was spoilt.

Side by side we rose behind our respective boulders, and as my eye topped the stone there, not fifty yards away, his tawny skin glistening in the early sunlight, was a fine lion. He was lying three-quarters just begun.

Not so that of the villagers, however! Theirs had only

They first of all

scoured the countryside until they found the remains of the woman, and these they carefully carried back to the village for burial. After this ceremony the village was given over to orgy. Beer was brought out, and supplied unstintingly to all comers. A dance was started, and every time the frenzied performers passed the remains of the lion-which they had brought into the villagethe men drove their spears into it or the women spat at it. Selimani very drunk was well to the fore in the dance, though long before the orgy reached its height he had to be carried bodily away and placed in an empty hut, there to sleep off the effects of his celebrations.

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The curious feature of the whole case, to us, was that the body of the woman was hardly damaged at all. Apparently the lion had made no attempt to eat her, and from this fact, together with the fact that the lion was young and in splendid condition, we formed the opinion that it had raided for pure cussedness rather than from stern necessity.

Rather late the next morning we set off for our camp, but we had not yet seen the last of Mitimoni.

Hardly a fortnight had passed since the death of the first lion, when four boys arrived at the camp with news that another lion had arrived, and was terrifying the village. This was a bit too steep. While being

ready to help the helpless villagers wherever possible, we felt that we had already done our duty by Mitimoni. Furthermore, we had other plans, and had arranged a shoot for ourselves down the river. We explained this to the villagers, and they were about to depart when news arrived that a woman had been taken since the first party had left the village.

"At this rate," remarked R., "there won't be any Mitimoni left in a few days' time. I suppose we had better go up again-poor devils!"

We talked the matter over, and at length decided to go back and try conclusions with this gentleman. We remembered that the old man had complained of two "dogs," in the first instance, and we thought that this second lion might be the first one's lioness. R. suggested that it would be a good idea to take some arsenic with us, of which we had a good supply, in case we could arrange a poisoned bait. We were not in the sweetest of tempers when we left Siwezi Camp, but fortunately for Mitimoni, we happened upon a fine bull elephant en route. R. bagged this with a brilliant shot, and as its tusks weighed 78 and 82 lb., we went on with considerably more gusto than we had set out.

By the time we arrived at the village the inhabitants were properly terrified. This lion, they said, was much more ferocious than the last, and

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