 Chapter 18 of The Man-eaters of Tsarvo This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Read by Sally McConnell in Bettys Bay, South Africa. The Man-eaters of Tsarvo by J. H. Patterson Chapter 18 Lions on the Athe Plains Shortly after I took charge at Railhead, we entered the Kapiti Plain, which gradually merges into the Athe Plain, and, indeed, is hardly to be distinguished from the latter in the appearance or general character of the country. Together they form a great tract of rolling-downs covered with grass and intersected here and there by dry ravines, along the banks of which a few stunted trees, many ones to be seen, struggle to keep themselves alive. In all this expanse there is absolutely no water in the dry season, except in the Athe River, some 40 miles away, and in a few waterholes known only to the wild animals. The great feature of the undulating plains, however, and the one which gives them a never-failing interest, is the great abundance of game of almost every conceivable kind. Here I myself have seen lion, rhinoceros, leopard, elan, giraffe, zebra, vilderbears, hotterbears, waterbuck, warthog, grantae, thomsini, impala, beside ostriches, greater and lesser-busted, marabou, and a host of other animals and birds too numerous to name. While along the Athe, and close to its banks, may be found large numbers of hippo and crocodiles. At the time I was there, these great plains also formed the principal grazing ground for the immense herds of cattle owned by the Maasai. I am very glad to say that the whole of this country on the south side of the railway, as far as the boundary of German East Africa, from the Tsavo River on the east, to the Kadong Valley on the west, is now a strictly protected game reserve. And so long as this huge expanse is thus maintained as a sanctuary, there can be no danger of any of these species becoming extinct. While crossing this dry expanse, the greatest difficulty I had to contend with was the provision of sufficient water for the three thousand workmen employed about railhead, for not a drop could be obtained on the way, nor could we hope for any until we had got to the other side of the plain and had reached the Athe River, which could not be accomplished under a couple of months. As we progressed onwards into the waterless belt, this became a very serious matter indeed, as any breakdown in the supply would have had the most disastrous consequences among so large a body of men working all day under the blazing sun of a tropical climate. Every day two train loads of water and great tax were bought up from the last stream we had passed, which of course daily fell further to the rear. This was a source of considerable delay, for the line was blocked all the time the water was being pumped into the tanks, and consequently no material for construction could come through, and a good deal of time was also wasted when the trains returned to railhead in distributing the water to the workmen, who often quarrelled and fought in their eagerness to get at it. At first I had most of the tank filling done by night, but on one occasion a line came unpleasantly close to the men working the pump, and the network had to be abandoned. The Coolies themselves were so anxious indeed to get a plentiful supply of water, that once or twice some of the more daring spirits among them ventured to go out onto the plains in search of waterholes, which by reason of the large herds of game we knew must exist somewhere. The only result of these expeditions, however, was that three of these men never returned. What befell of them is not known to this day. When we had proceeded some distance across this dry land, and when I was experiencing to the full the disadvantage and delay caused by my tank trains, a native from some remote corner of the plains with nothing by way of dress but a small piece of cowhide thrown over his left shoulder, came to my tent door one day and squatted down on his heels in the native fashion. On being asked his business, I have head, he replied, that the great master wants water. I can show it to him. This was good news, if it could be relied upon, so I questioned him closely and ascertained that some time previously, exactly how long ago I could not gather, he had been in the locality on a raiding expedition and had succeeded in finding water. I asked if the place was far away and got the reply in Swahili. Mbali Kedogo. A little distance. Now I had experienced of Mbali Kedogo before. It is like the Irishman's mile and a bit. So I decided to start very early next morning on a search for this pond, for such my informant described it to be. In the meantime the poor fellow who appeared starving, saw famine amongst natives of the district at the time, was given food and drink and made a ravenous meal. In the evening I had a long talk with him in broken Swahili around the campfire and obtained some insight into many of the strange and barbarous customs of the Maasai to which interesting tribe he belonged. In the morning I started off betimes, taking my 303 rifle and being accompanied by Mahina with the 12-ball shotgun and by another Indian carrying the necessary food and water. Our Maasai guide, whose name we found to be Longgao, seemed to be quite certain of his way and did us across the rolling plains more or less in the direction in which the railway was to run, but some miles to the right of its centre line. The march was full of interest, for on the way we passed with an easy range of Vildabies, Hardabies, Gazelle and Zebra. I was strictly on business, however, and did not attempt a shot, reserving that pleasure for the homeward trip. Late in the forenoon we arrived at Longgao's pond, a circular dip about 80 yards in diameter, which without doubt had contained water very recently, but which, as I expected to find, was now quite dry. A considerable number of burns lay scattered round it, whether of kills or of animals which had died of thirst, I could not say. Our guide appeared very much upset when we found the pond empty and gave vent to many exclamations in his peculiar language in which the letter R rolled like a kettle drum. Our search for water having thus proved a failure, I determined to try my luck with the game. The Maasai and the Indian were sent back to camp, while Mahina and I made a big detour from the dried up water-hole. Game abounded in all directions, but the animals were much more shy than there had been in the morning, and it was in vain that I stalked, if it can be called stalking, when as a matter of fact one has to move in the open, splendid specimens of Thompson's and Grant's Gazelle. I might have attempted a shot once or twice, but the probability was that, owing to the long range, it would have resulted only in a wound, and I think there is nothing so painful as to see an animal limping about in a crippled condition. In this fruitless manner we covered several miles, and I was beginning to think that we should have to return to camp without so much as firing a shot. Just then, however, I saw a herd of Vildobies, with much care managed to get within 300 yards of them. I singled out the biggest head, and waiting for a favourable moment fired at him, dropping him at once. I ran up to the fallen beast, which appeared to be dying, and told Mahina to drive the hunting-knife right through his heart, so as to quickly put him out of all pain. As Mahina was not doing this as skillfully or as quickly as I thought it might be done, and seemed unable to pierce the tough hide, I handed it in my rifle and took the knife in order to do it myself. Just as I raised the knife to strike, I was startled by the Vildobies suddenly jumping to its feet. For a moment he stood looking at me in a dazed and tottery kind of way, and then, to my amazement, he turned and made off. At first he moved with such a shaky and uncertain gait that I felt confident that he could only go a few yards before dropping. So, as I did not wish to disturb the other game round us by firing a second shot, I thought it would be best just to it. To my utter astonishment, however, after he had staggered for about sixty yards, he seemed to revive suddenly, broke into his ordinary gallop, and quickly rejoined the herd. From that time I lost all trace of him, though I followed up for four or five miles. The Vildobies, in fact, is like Kipling's fuzzy-wuzzy. He's generally shaman when he's dead. And my friend Rawson about this time had an experience very similar to mine, but attended with more serious results. He had knocked his Vildobies over in much the same way, and thought it was dead. And as he was very keen on obtaining photographs of game, he took his stand camera from the Indian who carried it and proceeded to focus it on the animal's head. When he was just about to take the picture, he was thunderstruck to see the Vildobies jump up and come charging down upon him. He sprang quickly aside, and in an instant up went the camera into the air, followed the next moment by the unfortunate Indian, the Vildobies having struck its horn right through the man's thigh and tossed him over its back. Fortunately the brute fell dead after this final effort, leaving Rawson grateful for his escape. After abandoning the chase of my Vildobies, we had not gone far on our way towards the home camp when I thought I observed something of a reddish colour moving in a patch of long grass, a good distance to our left front. I asked Mahina if he could make out what it was, but he was unable to do so, and before I could get my field glasses to bear, the animal whatever it was had disappeared into the grass. I kept my eye on the spot, however, and we gradually approached it. When we were about a hundred yards off, the reddish object again appeared, and I saw that it was nothing less than the shaggy head of a lion peeping over the long grass. This time Mahina also saw what it was and called out, Decocybe, share! Look, Master, a lion. I whispered to him to be quiet, and to take no notice of him while I tried my best to follow my own advice. So we kept on, edging up towards the beast, but apparently oblivious of his presence as he lay there grimly watching us. As we drew nearer, I asked Mahina in a whisper if he felt equal to facing a charge from the shore if I should wound him. He answered simply that where I went there he would go also, and right well he kept his word. I watched the lion carefully out of the corner of my eye as we closed in. Every now and then he would disappear from view for a moment, and it was a fascinating sight to see how he slowly raised his massive head above the top of the grass again and gazed calmly and steadily at us as we neared him. Unfortunately, I could not distinguish the outline of his body, hidden as it was in the grassy thicket. I therefore circled cautiously round to see if the cover was sufficiently thin at the back to make a shoulder shot possible. But as we moved, the lion also twisted around and so always kept his head full on us. When I had described a half circle I found that the grass was no thinner and that my chances of a shot had not improved. We were now within 70 yards of the lion who appeared to take the greater interest in us, the closer we approached. He had lost the sleepy look with which he had first regarded us and was now fully on the alert. But still he did not give me the impression that he meant to charge and no doubt if we had not provoked him he would have allowed us to depart in peace. I, however, was bent on war in spite of the risk which one must always run by attacking a lion at such close quarters on an open plain as flat as the palm of the hand. So in a standing position I took careful aim at his head and fired. The distance was, as I have said, a bare 70 yards, yet I must confess to a disgraceful miss. More astonishing still the beast made not the slightest movement did not even blink an eye, so far as I could see, but continued his steadfast questioning gaze. Again I took aim, this time for a spot below the tip of his nose, and again I fired, with more success, allowing turning a complete somersault over his tail. I thought he was done for, but he instantly sprang to his feet again and to my horror and astonishment was joined by a lioness whose presence we had never even thought of or suspected. Worse was still to follow, for two hours may both made a most determined charge on us, bounding along at a great pace and roaring angrily as they came. Poor Mahina cried out, SOB! DOSHA ATTA HIGH! Master, two lions are coming, but I told him to stand stock still and for his life not to make the slightest movement. In the twinkling of an eye the beasts had covered about 40 yards of the distance towards us. As they did not show the least sign of stopping, I thought we had given the experiment a remaining absolutely motionless affair trial and was just about to raise the rifle to my shoulder as a last resort when suddenly the wounded lion stopped, staggered and fell to the ground. The lioness took a couple of bounds nearer to us and then to my unmeasured relief turned to look round for her mate who had by this time managed to get to his feet again. There they both stood growling viciously and lashing their tails for what appeared to me to be a succession of ages. The lioness then made up her mind to go back to the lion and they both stood broadside on with their heads close together and turned towards us, snarling in a most aggressive manner. Had either of us moved hand or foot just then, it would, I am convinced, have at once brought on another and probably fatal charge. As the two great brutes stood in this position looking at us, I had, of course, a grand opportunity of dropping both, but I confess I did not feel equal to it at the moment. I could only devoutly hope that they would not renew their attack and was only too thankful to let them depart in peace if they would without any further hostility on my part. Just at the juncture the lion seemed to grow suddenly very weak. He staggered some ten yards back towards his lair and then fell to the ground. The lioness followed and lay down beside him, both still watching us and growling savagely. After a few seconds the lion struggled to his feet again and retreated a little further, the lioness accompanying him until he fell once more. A third time the same thing took place and at last I began to breathe more freely as they had now reached the thicket from which they had originally emerged. Accordingly I took a shot at the lioness as she lay beside her mate partly concealed in the long grass. I do not think I hit her, but anyway she had once made off and bounded away at a great rate on emerging into the open. I sent a few bullets after her to speed her on her way and then cautiously approached the wounded lion. He was stretched out at full length on his side with his back towards me but I could see by the heaving of his heavy flanks that he was not yet dead. So I put a bullet through his spine. He never moved after this but for safety's sake I made no attempt to go up to him for a few minutes and then only after Mahina had planted a few stones on his body just to make sure that he really was dead. We both felt very pleased with ourselves as we stood over him and looked at his fine head, great paws and long, clean, sharp tusks. He was a young but full grown lion in fine condition and measured 9 feet 8.5 inches from tip of nose to tip of tail. My last shot had entered the spine close to the shoulder and had lodged in the body. The first shot was a miss as I have already said but the second had caught him on the forehead right between the eyes. The bullet, however, instead of traversing the brain had been turned downwards by the frontal bone through which it crashed, finally lodging in the root of the tongue, the lead showing on both sides. I cut out the tongue and hung it up to dry intending to keep it as a trophy but unfortunately a vulture swooped down when my back was turned and carried it off. From the time I knocked the lion over until he first staggered and fell not more than a minute could have elapsed quite long enough however to have enabled him to cover the distance and to have seized any one or other of us. Unquestionably we owed our lives to the fact that we both remained absolutely motionless and I cannot speak too highly of Mahina for the splendid way in which he stood the charge. Had he acted as did another gun boy I know of the affair might not have had so happy an ending. This gun boy went out with Captain G in this very neighbourhood and not long after our adventure. G had come across a lion just as we did and wounded it. It charged down on them but instead of remaining absolutely still the terrified gun boy fled with the result that the lion came furiously on and poor G met with a terrible death. While Mahina was scarring the neighbourhood in search of some natives to carry the skin back to camp I took a good look round the place and found the half-eaten body of a zebra which I noticed had been killed out in the open and then dragged into the long grass. The tracks told me also that all the work had been done by the lion and this set me thinking of the lioness. I accordingly swept the plane with my glasses in the direction in which he had bounded off and after some searching I discovered her about a mile away apparently lying down in the midst of a bed of hot labious who grazed away without taking any notice of her. I felt much inclined to follow her up but I was afraid that if I did so the vultures that were already hovering around would settle on my lion and spoil the skin for the destruction of which these ravenous birds are capable even in the space of only a few minutes it's almost beyond belief. I accordingly returned to the dead beast and sat down astride of him. I had read that a frontal shot at a lion was a very risky one and on carefully examining the head it was easy to see the reason for owing to the sharp backward slope of the forehead it is almost impossible for a bullet fired in this manner to reach the brain. As there were lots of lions about in this district and as I wanted to bag some more I set myself to think out a plan whereby the risk of a frontal shot might be got rid of. About a fortnight afterwards I had an opportunity of putting my scheme into practice happily with most excellent results this however is another story which will be told later on. I next commenced to skin my trophy and found it a very tough job to perform by myself. He proved to be a very fat beast so I knew that Mahina would make a few honest and well earned rupees out of him for Indians will give almost anything for lion fat believing that it is an infallible cure for rheumatism and various other diseases. When at length the skin process was completed I waited impatiently for the return of Mahina who by this time had been gone much longer than I expected. It is rather a nerve-shattering thing I am speaking for myself to remain absolutely alone for hours on a vast open plain beside the caucus of a dead lion with vultures incessantly wheeling about above one and with nothing to be seen or heard for miles around except wild animals. It was a great relief therefore when after a long wait I saw Mahina approaching with half a dozen practically naked natives in his train. It turned out that he had lost his way back to me so that it was lucky he found me at all. We lost no time in getting back to camp arriving there just at sundown when my first business was to rub wood ashes into the skin and then stretch it on a portable frame which I had made a few days previously. The campfire was a big one that night and the graphic and highly coloured description which Mahina gave to the eager circle of listeners of the way in which he slew the lion would have made even Boran, that great hunter anxious for his fame. End of Chapter 18 Chapter 19 of The Man-eaters of Tzavo This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org The Man-eaters of Tzavo by J. H. Patterson Chapter 19 The Stricken Caravan Not long after this adventure the permanent way reached the boundary of the Capiti Plains where a station had to be built and where accordingly we took up our headquarters for a week or two. A few days after we had settled down in our new camp a great caravan of some 4,000 men arrived from the interior with luggage and loads of food for a Sikh regiment which was on its way down to the coast after having been engaged in suppressing the mutiny of the Sudanese in Uganda. The majority of these porters were Basoga but there were also fair numbers of Baganda i.e. the people of Uganda and of the natives of Anyoro and various other tribes. Of course none of these wild men of Central Africa had either seen or heard of a railway in all their lives and they consequently displayed the liveliest curiosity in regard to it crowding round one of the engines which happened to be standing at the station and hazarding the wildest guesses as to its origin and use in a babble of curious native languages. I thought I would provide a little entertainment for them so I stepped onto the foot plate and blew off the steam at the same time sounding the whistle. The effect was simply magical. The whole crowd first threw themselves flat on the ground howling with fear and then with heads well down and arms well spread out wildly in all directions nor did the stampede cease until I shut off steam and stopped the whistle. Then their curiosity gradually overpowering them very cautiously they began to return approaching the locomotive stealthily as though it were some living monster of the jungle. Eventually two of their chiefs summoned up courage enough to climb onto the engine and afterwards thoroughly enjoyed a short run which I had to make down the line in order to bring up some construction material. Just after this caravan had moved on we were subjected to some torrential rainstorms which transformed the whole plane into a quaking bog and stopped all railway work for the time being. Indeed the effect of a heavy downpour of rain in this sun-baked district is extraordinary. The ground, which is of a black subsoil becomes a mass of thick mud in no time and on attempting to do any walking one slides and slips about in the slush in a most uncomfortable manner. Innocent-looking dongas, where half an hour previously not one drop of water was to be seen, become roaring torrents from bank to bank in an incredibly short time. While for many hours or even a few days the rivers become absolutely impassable in this land of no bridges. On this account it is the custom of the wise traveller in these parts always to cross a river before camping for otherwise a flood may come down and detain him and his caravan on the wrong side of the stream for perhaps a week. Of course when the rain ceases the floods as quickly subside the rivers and dongas dry up and the country once more resumes its normal sun-cracked appearance. On leaving my tent one morning when work was at a standstill owing to the rain I noticed a great herd of zebra about a couple of miles away on the north side of the railway. Now it had long been my ambition to capture one of these animals alive so I said to myself, here is my chance. The men could do nothing owing to the rain and the ground was very boggy so I thought that if we could surround the herd judiciously and chase the zebra up and down from point to point through the heavy ground some of them would soon get exhausted and we should then be able to catch them. I selected for the hunt a dozen fleet-footed Indians who were employed on the earthworks and who at once entered with great zest into the spirit of the scheme. After having partially surrounded the herd the half-circle of Cooleys began to advance with wild shouts where upon the zebras galloped madly about from side to side and then did just what we wished them to do made straight for an exceptionally boggy part of the ground where they soon became more or less helpless. We singled out a few young ones and succeeded in running them into an absolute standstill when we threw them down and sat on their heads until the other men came up with ropes. In this way we captured no less than six. They were very wild and fractious giving us a great deal of trouble in getting them along and eventually we managed to bring them in triumph to the camp where they were firmly secured. The whole expedition lasted little more than a couple of hours. Three of the captured zebras I kept for myself while the other three were given to the surfacing engineer whose men had assisted in the hunt. Two of my three unfortunately died very shortly after but the third, a sturdy two-year-old, flourished splendidly. At first he was exceedingly vicious, biting and kicking everyone who approached him. Indeed, he once planted both his hind feet on my chest but did me no serious damage beyond throwing me heavily to the ground. In time, however, he became very tame and domesticated allowing himself to be led about by a rope and head-collar and would drink from a bucket and eat from my hand. He used to be left to graze picketed by a long rope to a stake in the ground. But one afternoon on returning to camp I found much to my annoyance that he had disappeared. On making enquiry I learned from my servants that the word of wild zebra had galloped close by and that this had so excited him that he managed to tear the picketing-peg out of the ground and so rejoin his brethren in freedom. Some few days after our successful sortie against the zebra the great caravan of basoga-porters returned from the coast on their way back to their own country but alas with what a terrible difference in their appearance. All their gaiety and light-heartedness was gone and the poor fellows were in a pitiable state. A frightful epidemic of dysentery had broken out amongst them doubtless caused by their having eaten food to which they were entirely unaccustomed. Their simple diet in their own homes consisting almost entirely of bananas from which they also made a most refreshing and stimulating drink. The ranks of the caravan were terribly decimated and dozens of men were left dead or dying along the roadside after each march. It was a case of the survival of the fittest as of course it was quite impossible for the whole caravan to halt in the wilderness where neither food nor water was to be had. There was only one European with the party and although he worked like a slave he could do very little among such a number while the basoga themselves seemed quite indifferent to the sufferings of their comrades. Thirteen poor wretches fell out to die close to my tent. They were in the most hopeless condition and far too weak to be able to do anything at all for themselves. As soon as I discovered them I boiled a bucketful of water adding some tins of condensed milk in the greater part of a bottle of brandy to it and fed them with the mixture. Their feeble cries for some of this nourishment were heart-rending. Some could only whisper buana buana master master and then open their mouths. One or two of them indeed could hardly do even this and were so weak as to be unable to swallow the spoonful of milk which I put between their lips. In the end six proved to be beyond all help and died that night. But the remaining seven I managed to nurse into complete recovery in about a fortnight's time. As our camp was moved on they were brought along from place to place on the top of trucks until finally they were well enough to resume their journey to Osoga very grateful indeed for the care which we had taken of them. The day after I first found these stricken natives I had arranged to ride on my pony for some miles in advance of the railway in order to make arrangements for the building of a temporary bridge on the Stony Athe River a tributary of the Athe and so called on account of the enormous numbers of stones in its bed and along its banks. I ordered my tent to follow me later in the day and left directions for the care of the sick Psoga as I knew I should be away all night. My road lay along the route taken by the home returning caravan and every hundred yards or so I passed the swollen corpse of some unfortunate porter who had fallen out and died by the wayside. Before very long I came up with the rearguard of this straggling army where I was witness of as unfeeling an act of barbarism as can well be imagined. A poor wretch utterly unable to go a step further rolled himself up in his scarlet blanket and lay down by the roadside to die whereupon one of his companions coveting the highly coloured and highly prized article turned back, seized one end of the blanket and callously rolled the dying man out of it as one would unroll a bale of goods. This was too much for me so I put spurs to my pony up to the scoundrel, making as if to thrash him with my kaboko or whip made of rhinoceros hide. In a moment he put his hand on his knife and half drew it from its sheath but on seeing me dismount and point my rifle at him he desisted and tried to run away. I made it clear to him by signs however that I would fire if he did not at once go back and replace the blanket around his dying comrade. This he eventually did though sullenly enough and I then marched him in front of me to the main camp of the caravan a little distance further on. Here I handed him over to the officer in charge who, I am glad to say, had him soundly thrashed for his brutality and theft. After performing this little act of retributive justice I pushed on toward the stony Athy. On the way, while still not far from the caravan camp I spied a Grant's gazelle in the distance and by the aid of my glasses discovered that it was a fine looking buck with a capital pair of horns. A few besoga from the caravan had followed me undoubtedly in the hope of obtaining meat of which they are inordinately fond. So, handing them my pony I wriggled from tuft to tuft and crawled along in the folds of the ground until eventually I got near enough for a safe shot which bowled the antelope over stone dead. Scarcely had he dropped when the besoga swooped down on him ripped him open and devoured huge chunks of the raw and still quivering flesh lapping up the warm blood in the palms of their hands. In return for the meat which I gave them two of them willingly agreed to go on with me and carry the head and haunch of the gazelle. When we had got very nearly to the place where I intended to camp for the night a great warthog suddenly jumped up almost at my horse's feet and as he had very fine and exceptionally long tusks I dismounted at once and bagged him too. The besoga were delighted at this and promptly cut off his head but my own people who arrived with my tent just at this juncture all very good Mohammedans were thoroughly disgusted at the sight of this very hideous looking pig. I camped for the night on the banks of the Stony Athy close to where the railway was to cross and made my notes of what was necessary for the temporary bridge. At the time the river was absolutely dry but I knew that it might at any moment become a roaring torrent if rain should set in. It would therefore be necessary to span it with a forty foot girder in order to prevent constant washouts during the rainy season. The next morning I started early on my return to Railhead. On my way I had to pass the camp which the besoga caravan had just left but the spectacle of about a dozen newly made graves which the hyenas had already torn open caused me to put spurs to my horse and to gallop as fast as possible through the pestilential spot. When I had almost got back to the Railhead I happened to notice a huge serpent stretched out on the grass, warming himself his skin of old gold and bright green sparkling brilliantly in the sunshine. He appeared to take little notice of me as I cautiously approached and was probably drowsy and sated with a heavy meal. I shot him through the head as he lay and the muscular contortions after death throughout his long body gave me a very vivid idea of the tremendous squeezing power possessed by these reptiles. Skinning him was an easy process but unfortunately his beautiful coloring soon disappeared the old gold turning to white and green to lusterless black. Each day Railhead crept a mile or so further across the plains and on April 24 we reached the Stony Athy River where our great camp was pitched for a few days while the temporary bridge was being thrown across the dry bed of the stream. Still another temporary bridge had to be arranged for the Athy itself which was some eight miles further on so I had to make one or two expeditions to this river in order to select a suitable place for the crossing and to make various other arrangements. On one of these occasions I was busy attending to the pitching of my tent after arriving at the Athy late in the evening. When on looking round I was very much surprised to see two European ladies sitting under the shade of some trees on the riverbank. As I knew that this was anything but a safe place in which to rest owing to the number of lions about I went up to them to see if I could be of any assistance and found that they were American missionaries journeying to their stations further inland. They were waiting for their camp equipment to arrive but their porters had been considerably delayed by some very heavy rain which of course made the roads bad and the tents about double their usual weight. The men of the party were expected every moment with the porters but there was as yet no sign of the little caravan and as a matter of fact did not arrive until long after nightfall. In these circumstances it was perhaps a great blessing that I happened to be there and as the ladies were both very tired and hungry I was glad to be able to place my tent at their disposal and to offer them as good a dinner as it was possible to provide in the wild. It is indeed wonderful what dangers and hardships these delicately nurtured ladies will face cheerfully in order to carry out their self-appointed mission. When they had left next morning to resume their journey I started out and made a search up and down the river for the proper position of my temporary bridge. After a thorough examination of all the possible situations I chose the most suitable and pitched my tent close to it for a night or two while I made the necessary calculations for carrying out the work. The crossing on which I had decided had to be approached by a somewhat sharp curve in the line and in laying this out with the theodolite I experienced considerable difficulty. As for some reason or other I could not make the last peg on the curve come anywhere near the tangent point where the curve should link up with the straight. I repeated the whole operation time after time but always with the same result. Eventually I came to the conclusion that there must be some mistake in the table of angles from which I had been working so I started to work them out for myself and soon discovered a serious misprint. This being rectified in my calculations I proceeded to lay out the curve again when at last everything came out accurately and to my satisfaction. After I had pegged out this temporary diversion of the line I thought I richly deserved a few hours play and accordingly determined to try my luck after lions upstream toward the source of the Athy. The river, which runs almost due north here before taking a turn eastward to the Indian Ocean forms part of the western boundary of the Athy plains and is fringed all along its course by a belt of thorny hardwood trees. In some places this fringe is quite narrow while in others it is about a quarter of a mile wide with grassy glades here and there among the trees. Every now and again too the stream itself widens out into a broad stretch of water nearly always covered over with tall reeds and elephant grass while along the banks are frequent patches of stunted bushes which struck me as very likely places for the king of beasts to sleep in after having drunk at the river. I had noticed that after having eaten and drunk well a lion would throw himself down quite without caution in the first shady spot he came to. Of course nothing except man ever disturbs him and even of man the lions in this part of the country had as yet no fear for they had rarely if ever been hunted previous to my time. As I felt rather tired after my morning's work I decided to use my pony on this expedition although as a rule I went on foot. Mahina and a half dozen natives to beat the belt of trees were to accompany me and after a hasty lunch off we started up the left bank of the river. I walked for some distance at first partly because the ground was very stony and partly because I thought a lion might suddenly bound out of some likely patches in front of the beaters. But after having gone about six miles in this way without adventure of any kind I decided to mount again. At this time the beaters were in a line about a hundred yards behind me shouting and hallowing with all their might advanced through the scrub and undergrowth while I rode well to the flank so as to be ready for any emergency. Just as the men got up to a rather thicker piece of jungle than usual I fancied I saw a movement among the bushes and pulled up suddenly to watch the spot but did not dismount. The next moment outbounded a lioness who raced straight across the open strip into the next patch of jungle quickly followed by another. Throwing myself off my pony I seized my rifle to get a shot at the second lioness as she galloped past and was just about to pull the trigger when to my utter amazement out sprang a huge black mained lion making all haste after his mates. Before he could reach the further thicket however I fired and had the satisfaction of hearing the deep growl that tells of a serious hit. The beaters and I now advanced with great care taking advantage of every bit of cover and keeping a sharp look out for the wounded animal as we crept from tree to tree. Fully a quarter of an hour must have elapsed in this slow yet exciting search before one of the men some fifty or sixty yards to my left and a little ahead of the line called out that he could see the lion awaiting our approach with his head just visible in a large bed of rushes only a short distance in front of where I then was. Almost at the same moment I found blood marks left by the wounded animal leading apparently to a kind of gap in the bank of the river which had evidently been worn down by a rhino going to and fro to drink. I accordingly made for this with the greatest caution ordering all the men except Mahina to remain behind and as noiselessly as possible I slipped from cover to cover in my endeavour to obtain a peep over the bank. I saw that it was no use to attempt to climb a tree as the over-spreading foliage would have prevented me from obtaining any view ahead so I continued my slow advance with a fast beating heart not knowing where the huge brute was and expecting every moment that he would charge out at me over the bank from his reedy refuge. Emboldened to a certain extent however by the fact that up till then I had heard no movement on the part of my enemy I crept steadily forward and at last from the shelter of a friendly tree behind the bowl of which I hid myself I was able to look over the bank and there not twenty yards from me crouched the lion luckily watching not me but the native who had first seen him and who had directed me to where he was I raised my rifle very cautiously without making the slightest sound and steadying the barrel against the trunk of the tree and standing on tiptoe in order to get a better view I fired plump at the side of his head it was as if he had suddenly been hit with a sledgehammer for he fell over instantly and lay like a log on my calling out that the lion was done for the beaters came running up shouting with joy and although I warned them to be careful as the two lionesses were probably still close at hand they did not seem to care in the slightest and in a twinkling had the dead lion lifted from the reeds onto the dry bank before I allowed anything further to be done however I had the patch of rushes thoroughly beaten out but as no traces of the lionesses could be found we commenced to skin my fine trophy when this was about half done I decided to let Mahina finish the operation while I went on ahead to try my luck either with more lions or with any other game that might come my way I followed up the river almost to its source but no more lions crossed my path once indeed I felt convinced that I saw one and gave chase to it with all my might as it rushed through the long grass but a nearer view showed me nothing more than a huge warthog as I wanted the tusks which I noticed were very fine ones I fired but only badly hipped him so I ran up as fast as I could and at ten yards fired again this time I missed him entirely and was puzzled to account for my failure until I looked at my back sight and found that by some accident it had got raised and then I had the two hundred yards sight up on rectifying this another shot quickly put the wounded animal out of pain still my days sporting was not yet over while rambling back through the trees I caught sight of a graceful looking antelope in the distance and on cautiously approaching closer saw that it was an impala my stalk was crowned with success the beautiful animal being bagged without much trouble and on reaching my prize I was delighted to find that its horns were much above the average on another occasion I was fortunate enough to get a successful snapshot of an impala just after it had been shot by a friend and the photograph gives a very good idea of what mine was like as it was now growing late I made all haste back to where I had left Mahina skinning the lion but to my astonishment he was nowhere to be seen I fired several shots and shouted myself horse all without response and the only conclusion I could come to was that he had returned to the camp at the temporary bridge I accordingly pushed on reaching home long after dark and there I found Mahina safe and sound with the lion's skin already pegged out to dry so I could not find it in my heart to give him the severe scolding he deserved for having returned without me next morning I packed up my trophies and returned to my work at Railhead on my way back I happened to meet one of the other engineers who called out hello I hear you've got a fine line my thoughts being full of my adventures of the day before I answered yes I did but how on earth did you hear of it oh he said Reynolds told me good heavens I replied why he left before I shot it shot he exclaimed whatever do you mean didn't you say I asked that you heard I had got a fine lion no no was his reply a fine line for the temporary bridge over the river we both laughed heartily at the misunderstanding and when he saw my trophy which was being carried by my man just behind me he agreed that it was quite fine enough to monopolize my thoughts and prevent me from thinking of anything else End of Chapter 20 Chapter 21 of the Man-eaters of Savo This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org The Man-eaters of Savo by J. H. Patterson Chapter 21 The Masai and Other Tribes A few Masai may still be seen in the Athe Plains but as a rule they keep away from the railway the majority of the tribe being now settled on the Laikipia Plateau Formerly they were by far the most powerful native race in East Africa and went on the warpath where the terror of the whole country from the furthest limits of Uganda to Mombasa itself Their numbers have laterally become greatly reduced through famine and smallpox but the remnant of the tribe especially the men are still a fine, lithe, clean-limbed people While I was stationed in the plains I managed to have an interview with the chief, Lanana at one of his royal residences a crawl near Nairobi He was affability itself presenting me with a spear and shield as a memento of the occasion but he had the reputation of being a most wily old potentate and I found this quite correct as whenever he was asked an awkward question he would nudge his prime minister and command him to answer for him I managed to induce him and his wives and children to sit for their photograph and they made a very fine group indeed but unfortunately the negative turned out very badly I also got Lanana's nephew and a warrior to engage in combat with the spear and shield and both made a fine play with their long, keen blades which more than once penetrated the opponent's shield The Masai have a wonderfully well-organized military system The warriors, el-Marani of the tribe must attend strictly to their duties and are not allowed to marry or to smoke or to drink until after their term of active service is completed Besides the spear and shield they generally carry a sword or knob curry suspended from a rawhide waist belt and they certainly look very ferocious in their weird-looking headdress when on the warpath Once or twice I met detachments out on these expeditions but they were always quite friendly to me even though I was practically alone Before the advent of British rule however sudden raids were constantly being made by them on the weaker tribes in the country and when a crawl was captured all the male defenders were instantly killed with the spear while the women were put to death during the night with clubs The Masai indeed never made slaves or took prisoners and it was their proud boast that where a party of el-Marani had passed nothing of any kind was left alive The object of these raids was of course to capture livestock for the Masai are not an agricultural people and their wealth consists entirely in their herds of cattle, sheep and goats Seriously enough they do not hunt game although the country abounds with it but live principally on beef and milk and it is also a common custom for them to drink daily a pint or so of blood taken from a live bullock As they thus live entirely on cattle and as cattle cannot thrive without good pasture it is not unnatural to find that they have a great reverence for grass They also worship a supreme being whom they call Ngai but this term is also applied to anything which is beyond their understanding Perhaps the most curious of the customs of the Masai is the extraction of the two front teeth from the lower jaw It is said that this habit originated at a time when Lakja was very prevalent among the tribe and it was found that if these teeth were pulled out food could still be taken This explanation seems scarcely satisfactory or sufficient and I give it only for what it is worth but whatever the reason for the custom the absence of these two teeth constitutes a most distinctive identifying mark I remember once being out with a Masai one day when we came across the bleached skull of a long defunct member of his tribe of course easily recognizable as such by the absence of the proper teeth The Masai had once plucked a handful of grass, sped upon it and then placed it very carefully within the skull This was done, he said, to avert evil from himself The same man asked me, among many other questions if my country was nearer to God than his I am afraid I was unable conscientiously to answer him in the affirmative Formerly the Masai used to spit in the face as a mark of great friendship but nowadays, like most other native races they have adopted our English fashion of shaking hands Another very common custom amongst them is that of distorting the lobe of the ear by stretching it until it hangs down quite five or six inches It is then pierced and decorated in various ways by sticking through it a piece of wood, two or three inches in diameter or a little round tin canister and by hanging to it pieces of chain, rings, beads or bunches of brass-headed nails according to fancy Nearly all the men wear little bells on their ankles to give notice of their approach while the women are very fond of covering themselves with large quantities of iron or copper wire Their limbs indeed are often almost completely encased with these rings which I should think must be very heavy and uncomfortable but no Masai woman considers herself a lady of fashion without them and the more she possesses the higher does she stand in the social scale As a rule the Masai do not bury their dead as they consider this custom to be prejudicial to the soil The bodies are simply carried some little distance from the village and left to be devoured by birds and wild beasts The honor of burial is reserved only for a great chief over whose remains a large mound is also raised I came across one of these mounds one day near Savo and opened it very carefully but found nothing possibly I did not pursue my search deep enough into the earth In general the Masai are an upright and honorable savage race and it is a great pity that they are gradually dying out More or less serfs of the Masai are the Watt and Derobo who unlike their overlords are a race of hunters They are seldom to be met with however as they hide away in caves and thickets and keep constantly moving from place to place following the game Not long ago I saw a few of them in the neighborhood of the Eldama ravine but these were more or less civilized and the girls who were quite graceful had abandoned the native undress costume for flowing white robes In the district from Nairobi to the Qidong river and in the Kenya province dwell the Waki Kuyu who are similar to the Masai in build but not nearly so good looking Like the latter they use the spear and shield though of a different shape Their principal weapon however is the bow and poisoned arrow They also frequently carry a rudely made two-edged short sword in a sheath which is slung round the waist by a belt of raw hide Their front teeth are filed to a sharp point in the same manner as those of nearly all other native tribes of East Africa with the exception of the Masai They live in little villages composed of beehive huts and always situated in the very thickest patches of forest that they can find and their cattle crawls are especially strongly built and carefully hidden On one occasion I managed after a great deal of difficulty in crawling on all fours to make my way into one of these crawls and was much amazed to notice what labor and ingenuity had been expended on its construction Unlike the Masai, the Waki Kuyu have a fairly good idea of agriculture and grow crops of matama, a kind of native grain from which flour is made, sugar cane, sweet potatoes and tobacco The Waki Kuyu have the reputation of being a very cowardly and treacherous people and they have undoubtedly committed some very cruel deeds A friend of mine, Captain Haslam, with whom I lived for a few months at Savo, was barbarously murdered by some members of this tribe He left me to go up to the Kikuyu country in charge of the transport and as he was keenly interested in finding out all about the tropical diseases from which the animals suffered, he made it his custom to dissect the bodies of those that died The superstitious Waki Kuyu were fully convinced that by this he bewitched their cattle, which at the same time were dying in scores from render-pest So instigated no doubt by the all-powerful witch doctor they treacherously killed him For my part, however, I found them not nearly so black as they had been painted to me I had about four hundred of them working at one thing or another at Nairobi and never had any trouble with them On the contrary, I found them well-behaved and intelligent and most anxious to learn As is the case with all other African races the women of the Waki Kuyu do the manual labor of the village and carry the heavy loads for their lords and masters the bundles being held in position on their back by a strap passing round the forehead Withstanding this, some of them are quite pleasant-looking and once they have overcome their fear of the European do not object to being photographed Of the other tribes to be met with in this part of the world the Kavirondo are the most interesting They are an industrious, simple people devoted to agriculture and hospitable in the extreme a little addicted to thieving, perhaps but then that is scarcely considered a sin in the heart of Africa They are closed, to use Mark Twain's expression in little but a smile a bead or two here and there being considered ample raiment Nevertheless, they are modest in their ways and are on the whole about the best of the East African tribes End of Chapter 21 Recording by Tricia G Chapter 22 of the Man-Eaters of Savo This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org The Man-Eaters of Savo by J. H. Patterson Chapter 22 How Roshan Khan Saved My Life On May 12, Railhead reached the Athi River where, as there was a great deal of miscellaneous work to be done our headquarters remained established for some little time One day, not long after we had settled down in our new camp I was joined quite unexpectedly by my friend Dr. Brock who had shared the exciting adventure with me at Savo the night we were attacked in the goods wagon by one of the Man-Eaters Now Brock had so far not been fortunate enough to beg a lion and was consequently most anxious to do so Shortly after his arrival, accordingly he suggested that we should go for a shooting expedition on the morrow and that I should trot out for his benefit one of the local lions Of course I said I should be delighted I was always ready for a hunt when it was possible for me to get away and as just at the time we were held up by the Athi River I could manage a day off quite easily So we made the usual preparations for a day's absence from camp filled our water-bottles with tea put a loaf of bread and a tin of sardines in our haversacks looked carefully to our rifles and ammunition and warned the boys who were to accompany us as beaters to be ready before dawn I decided to make a very early start as I knew that the most likely place for lions lay some distance away and I wanted to get there if possible by daybreak We should thus have a better chance of catching one of the lords of the plain as he returned from his nightly depredations to the kindly shelter of the tall grass and rushes which fringed the banks of the river We therefore retired to rest early and just as I was dozing off to sleep one of my Indian servants, Roshan Khan put his head through the slit at my tent door and asked Fleve to accompany the Saheeds in the morning so that he might see what Shikhar, Hunting, was like This request I sleepily granted thinking that it could make little difference whether he came with us or stayed behind in camp As things turned out, however, it made all the difference in the world for if he had not accompanied us my Shikhar would in all probability have ended disastrously next day He was a very dusky colored young Patan about twenty years of age life inactive and honest and pleasant looking as Patans go He had been my boy for some time and was much attached to me besides having a touching faith in my prowess in Shikhar Probably indeed, this was the reason why he stuck so close to me throughout the hunt We breakfasted by candlelight and managed to get several miles on our way towards the source of the aathi before dawn As soon as it was thoroughly daylight we extended in line Dr. Brock as the guest being placed in the most likely position for a shot while Roshan Khan followed close behind me with the day's provisions In this order we trudged steadily forward for a couple of miles without coming across anything though we advanced through many patches of rushes and long grass likely to conceal our expected quarry It was most interesting and exciting work all the same as we never knew but that a lion might the next moment jump up at our very feet We had just beaten through a most hopeful looking covert without success and had come out on a beautiful open grassy glade which stretched away for some distance ahead of us when I noticed a big herd of wildebeest browsing quietly some distance to our right I knew that Brock also wanted a wildebeest so I whistled softly to him and pointed out the weird looking bison-like antelopes He came across at once and started off towards the herd while I sat down to watch the proceedings He made a beautiful stalk which was rendered really very difficult by the open nature of the country but still the wildebeest quickly noticed his approach and kept steadily moving on until at last they disappeared over one of the gentle rises which are such a feature of the athi plains I still sat and waited expecting every moment to hear the sound of Brock's rifle Some time elapsed without a shot however and I was just about to follow him up and find out how things were going when Roshan Khan suddenly exclaimed excitedly Deco Sahib, Shensi Atahein Look Sahib, the savages are coming I was not in the least alarmed at this somewhat startling announcement as the Indians called all the natives of the interior of Africa Shensi or Savages and on looking around I saw five tall slim Masai approaching an Indian file each carrying a six-foot spear in his right hand On coming nearer, the leader of the party eagerly asked in Swahili What does the Buona Makubwa, great master, desire? Zimba, lions, said I Come, he replied, I will show you many This filled me with interest at once How far away are they? I asked Mbali Kedogo, a little distance, came the stereotype to reply I immediately had a good look around for Brock but could see no sign of him so in case the many lions should get away in the meantime I told the Masai to lead the way and off we started As usual, the Mbali Kedogo proved a good distance over two miles in this case Indeed I began to get impatient at the long tramp and called out to the Masai to know where his lions were but he vouchsafed me no answer and continued to walk steadily on casting keen glances ahead After a little I again asked, where are the lions? This time he extended his spear in a most dramatic manner and pointing to a clump of trees just ahead exclaimed Look, master, there are the lions I looked and at once caught sight of a lioness trotting off behind the bushes I also saw some suspicious looking thing at the foot of one of the big trees but came to the conclusion that it was only a growth of some kind projecting from the trunk I was soon to be undeceived however for as I started to run towards the trees in order to cut off the fast disappearing lioness from a stretch of rushes for which he was making a low and sinister growl made me look closer at the object which had first aroused my suspicions To my surprise and delight I saw that it was the head of a huge black maned lion peering out from behind the trunk of the tree which completely hid his body I pulled up short and stared at him although he was not seventy yards away from me yet owing to the nature of the background it was very difficult to make him out especially as he kept his head perfectly still gazing steadily at me it was only when the great mouth opened in an angry snarl that I could see plainly what he really was for a few seconds we stood thus and looked at each other then he growled again and made off after the lioness as I could not get a fair shot at him from where I stood I ran with all my might for a point of vantage from which I might have a better chance of begging him as he passed now by this time I had almost got beyond the surprise stage where lions are concerned yet I must admit that I was thoroughly startled and brought to a full stop in the middle of my race by seeing no less than four more lionesses jump up from the covert which the lion had just left in the twinkling of an eye three of them had disappeared after their lord in long low bounds but the fourth stood broadside on looking not at me but at my followers who by this time were grouped together and talking and gesticulating excitedly this gave me a splendid chance for a shoulder shot at about 50 yards distance so I knelt down at once and fired after taking careful aim the lioness disappeared from sight instantly and on looking over the top of the grass I saw that my shot had told as she was on her back clawing the air and growling viciously as she looked to me to be done for I shouted for some of the men to remain behind and watch her while I set off once more at a run to try to catch up the lion I feared that the check with the lioness might have lost him to me altogether but to my relief I soon caught sight of him again he had not made off very quickly and had probably stopped several times to see what I was up to indeed the men who could see him all the time afterwards told me that when he heard the growl of rage from the lioness after she was shot he made quite a long halt apparently deliberating whether he should return to her rescue evidently however he had decided that discretion was the better part of valor fortunately he was traveling leisurely and I was delighted to find that I was gaining on him fast but I had still to run about 200 yards at my best pace which at an altitude of more than 5,000 feet above sea level leaves one very breathless at the end of it when the lion perceived me running towards him he took up his station under a tree where he was half hidden by some low bushes above which only his head showed here he stood watching my every movement and giving vent to his anger at my presence in low threatening growls I did not at all like the look of him and if there had been another tree close by I should certainly have scrambled up it into safety before attempting to fire as a matter of fact however there was no shelter of any kind at hand so as I meant to have a try for him at all costs I sat down where I was about 60 yards from him and covered his great head with my rifle I was so breathless after my run and my arms were so shaky that it was all I could do to keep the sight on the fierce looking target and I thought to myself as the rifle barrel wobbled about if I don't knock him over with the first shot he will be out of these bushes and down on me like greased lightning and then I know what to expect it was a most exciting moment but in spite of the risk I would not have missed it for the world so taking as steady an aim as was possible in the circumstances I pulled the trigger instantly the shaggy head disappeared from view and such a succession of angry roars and growls came up out of the bushes that I was fairly startled and felt keenly anxious to finish him off before he could charge out and cover the short distance which separated us I therefore fired half a dozen shots into the bushes at the spot where I imagined he lay and soon the growling and commotion ceased and all was still I was confident the brute was dead so I called up one of the men to stay and watch the place while I again rushed off at full speed jumping over such rocks and bushes as came in my way to have a shot at a lioness that was still in sight by this time my followers numbered about 30 men as when one is hunting in these plains natives seem to spring from nowhere in the most mysterious manner and attach themselves to one in the hope of obtaining some portion of the kill by signal I ordered them to advance in line on the thicket in which the lioness had just taken refuge while I took up my position on one side so as to obtain a good shot when she broke covert the line of natives shouting their native cries and striking their spears together soon disturbed her and out she sprang into the open making for a clump of rushes close to the river unfortunately she broke out at the most unfavorable spot from my point of view as some of the natives masked my fire and I had consequently to wait until she got almost to the edge of the rushes whether or not I hit her then I cannot say at any rate she made good her escape into the reeds where I decided to leave her until Brock should arrive I now retraced my steps towards the spot where I had shot the lion expecting of course to find the man I had told to go watch him still on guard to my intense vexation however I found that my sentry had deserted his post and had joined the other men of the party having become frightened when left by himself the result of his disobedience was that now I could not tell where lay the dead lion or rather the lion which I believed to be dead but I had no intention of losing so fine a trophy so I began a systematic search dividing the jungle into strips and thus going over the whole place thoroughly the task of finding him however was not so easy as might be thought the chase after the lioness had taken us some distance from where I had shot him and as there were numbers of trees about similar to that under which he fell it was really a very difficult matter to hit upon the right place at last one of the men sang out joyfully that he had found the lion at the same time running away from the spot as hard as ever he could a number of those nearest to him both Indians and natives had more courage or curiosity and went up to have a look at the beast I shouted to them as I hurried along to be careful and not to go too near in case by any chance he might not be dead but they paid little heed to the warning and by the time I got up some half dozen of them were gathered in a group at the lion's tail gesticulating wildly and chattering each in his own language and all very pleased and excited on getting near I asked if the lion was dead and was told that he was nearly so but that he still breathed he was lying at full length on his side and when I saw him at close quarters I was more delighted than I can tell for he was indeed a very fine specimen for a moment or two I stood with the group of natives admiring him he still breathed regularly as his flanks heaved with each respiration but as he lay absolutely still with all the men jabbering within a yard of him I assumed that he was on the point of death and unable to rise possessed with this belief I very foolishly allowed my curiosity to run away with my caution and stepped round to have a look at his head the moment I came into his view however he suddenly became possessed of a diabolical ferocity with a great roar he sprang to his feet as if he were quite unhurt his eyes blazed with fury and his lips were drawn well back exposing his tusks and teeth in a way I hoped never to witness again when this perilous situation so unexpectedly developed itself I was not more than three paces away from him the instant the lion rose all the men fled as if the evil one himself were after them and made for the nearest trees with one exception for as I took a step backwards keeping my eye on the infuriated animal I almost trod on Roshan Khan who had still remained close behind me fortunately for me I had approached the lion's head with my rifle ready and as I stepped back I fired the impact of the 303 bullet threw him back on his haunches just as he was in the act of springing but in an instant he was up again and coming for me so quickly that I had not even time to raise my rifle to my shoulder but fired point blank at him from my hip delaying him for a second or so as before he was up again like lightning and again at the muzzle of my rifle and this time I thought that nothing on earth could save me as I was almost within his clutches help came from an unexpected and unconscious quarter for just at this critical moment Roshan Khan seemed all at once to realize the danger of the situation and suddenly fled for his life screaming and shrieking with all his might beyond all question this movement saved me for the sight of something darting away from him diverted the lion's attention from me and following his natural instinct he gave chase instead to the yelling fugitive Roshan Khan having thus unwittingly rescued me from my perilous position it now became my turn to do all I could to save him if this were possible in far less time than it takes to tell the story I had swung round after the pursuing lion leveled my rifle and fired but whether because of the speed at which he was going or because of my over anxiety to save my boy I missed him completely and saw the bullet raise the dust at the heels of a flying Masai like lightning I loaded again from the magazine but now the lion was within a spring of his prey and it seemed hopeless to expect to save poor Roshan Khan from his clutches just at this moment however the terrified youth caught sight of the brute over his left shoulder and providentially made a quick swerve to the right as the lion turned to follow him he came broadside on to me and just as he had Roshan Khan within striking distance and was about to seize him he dropped in the middle of what would otherwise assuredly have been the fatal spring bowled over with a broken shoulder this gave me time to run up and give him a final shot and with a deep roar he fell back full length on the grass stone dead I then looked round to see if Roshan Khan was all right as I was not sure whether the lion had succeeded in mauling him or not the sight that met my eyes turned tragedy into comedy in an instant and made me roar with laughter indeed it was so utterly absurd that I threw myself down on the grass and rolled over and over convulsed with uncontrollable mirth for there was Roshan Khan halfway up a thorn tree earnestly bent on getting to the very topmost branch as quickly as ever he could climb not a moment indeed was he able to spare to cast a glance at what was happening beneath his puggery had been torn off by one thorn and waved gracefully in the breeze a fancy waistcoat adorned another spiky branch and his long white cotton gown was torn to ribbons in his mad endeavor to put as great a distance as possible between himself and the dead lion as soon as I could stop laughing I called out to him to come down but quite in vain there was no stopping him indeed until he had reached the very top of the tree and even then he could scarcely be induced to come down again poor fellow he had been thoroughly terrified in little wonder my followers now began to emerge from the shelter of the various trees and bushes where they had concealed themselves after their wild flight from the resuscitated lion and crowded round his dead body in the highest spirits the Messiah especially seemed delighted at the way in which he had been defeated and to my surprise and amusement proved themselves excellent mimics some three or four of them beginning at once to act the whole adventure one played the part of the lion and jumped growling at a comrade who immediately ran backwards just as I had done shouting ta ta ta and cracking his fingers to represent the rifle shots finally the whole audience roared with delight when another bolted as fast as he could to Roshan Khan's tree with the pseudo lion roaring after him at the end of these proceedings up came Brock who had been attracted to the place by the sound of the firing he was much astonished to see my fine dead lion lying stretched out and his first remark was you are a lucky beggar afterwards when he heard the full story of the adventure he rightly considered me even more lucky than he had first thought our next business was to go back to the lioness which I had first shot and left for dead like her mate however she was still very much alive when we reached her so I stocked carefully up to a neighboring tree from whose shelter I gave her the finishing shot we then left Mahina and the other men to skin the two beasts and went on to the rushes where the second lioness had taken cover here all our efforts to turn her out failed so we reluctantly abandoned the chase and were fated to see no more lions that day our only other adventure was with a stolid old rhino who gave me rather a fright and induced Brock to indulge in some lively exercise separated by a hundred yards or so we were walking over the undulating ground a short distance from the river when on gaining the top of a gentle rise I suddenly came upon the ungainly animal it lay wallowing in a hollow it jumped to its feet instantly and came for where I stood and as I had no wish to shoot it I made a dash for cover round the knoll on reaching the top of the rise the rhino winded my companion and it once changed its direction and made for him Brock lost no time in putting on his best pace in an endeavor to reach the shelter of a tree which stood some distance off while I sat down and watched the exciting race I thought it would be a pretty close thing but felt confident that Brock, who was very active would manage to pull it off when he got about halfway to the tree however he turned to see how far his pursuer was behind and in doing so put his foot in a hole in the ground and to my horror fell head over heels his rifle flying from his grasp I expected the great brute to be on him in a moment but to my intense relief the old rhino stopped dead when he saw the catastrophe which had taken place and then failing I suppose to understand it suddenly made off in the opposite direction as hard as he could go in the meantime Brock had got to his feet again and raced for dear life to the tree without ever looking round it was a most comical sight and I sat on the rise and for the second time that day laughed till my sides ached after this we returned to the scene of my morning's adventure where we found that the invaluable Mahina had finished skinning the two lions we accordingly made our way back to camp with our trophies all of us with perhaps the exception of Roshan Khan well satisfied with the day's outing whenever afterwards I wanted to chaff this boy I had only to ask whether he would like to come and see some more Sheikhar he would then look very solemn, shake his head emphatically and assure me Kabhi Nahin Sahib never again sir End of Chapter 22 Recording by Trisha Ji Chapter 23 of The Man-Eaters of Savo This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org The Man-Eaters of Savo by J. H. Patterson Chapter 23 A Successful Lion Hunt When the Athe River had been bridged the section of the line to Nairobi was pushed forward as rapidly as possible and from dawn to dark we all exerted ourselves to the very utmost One day, May 28 the weather was exceptionally hot and I had been out in the broiling sun ever since daylight superintending the construction of banks and cuttings and the erection of temporary bridges On returning to my hut, therefore at about three o'clock in the afternoon I threw myself into a long deck chair too tired for anything beyond a long cool drink Here I rested for an hour or so amused by the bustle of the small wayside station we had just built and idly watching our tiny construction engine forging its way with a great deal of clanking and puffing up a steep gradient just across the river It was touch-and-go whether it would manage to get its heavy load of rails and sleepers to the top of the incline or not and I became so interested in the contest between steam and friction and gravity that I did not notice that a visitor had approached and was standing quietly beside me On hearing the usual salutation, however I turned round and saw a lean and withered half-bread messai clothed in a very inadequate piece of will-to-beast hide which was merely slipped under the left arm and looped up in a knot over the right shoulder He stood for a moment with the right hand held out on the level with his shoulder the fingers extended and the palm turned towards me all indicating that he came on a friendly visit I returned his salutation and asked him what he wanted Before answering, he dropped on his heels his old bones cracking as he did so I want to lead the great master to two lions He said, they have just killed a zebra and are now devouring it On hearing this, I straightway forgot that I had already done a hard day's work in the full blaze of an equatorial sun I forgot that I was tired and hungry In fact, I forgot everything that was not directly connected with the excitement of lion hunting Even the old savage at my feet grinned when he saw how keen I was about it I applied him with questions Were they both lions or lionesses? Had they means? How far away were they? and so on Naturally, to the last question he was bound to answer, Mbali Kedogo Of course, they were not far away Nothing ever is to a native of East Africa However, the upshot was that in a very few minutes I had a mule saddled and with the old Messiah as a guide I started off accompanied by my faithful Mahina and another Cooley to help to bring home the skin if I should prove successful I also left word for my friend Spooner the district engineer who happened to be absent from camp just at the moment that I had gone after two lions but hoped to be back by nightfall We traveled at a good pace and within an hour had covered fully six miles Still, there was no sign of lions On the way we were joined by some Wakamba even more scantily attired than our guide and soon a dispute arose between these hangers on and the old Messiah who refused to allow them to accompany us as he was afraid that they would seize all the zebra meat that the lions had not already eaten However, I told him not to bother but to hurry up and show me the lions and that I would look after him all right Eventually, on getting to the low crest of the long swells in the ground our guide extended along skinny finger and said proudly I looked in the direction in which he pointed and sure enough about six hundred yards off were a lion and a lioness busily engaged in the carcass of a zebra On using my field glasses I was amused to observe a jackal in attendance on the pair Every now and then he would come too close to the zebra and the lion would make a short rush at him and scare him away The little jackal looked most ridiculous scampering off before the huge beast with his tail well down but no sooner did the lion stop and return to his meal than he crept nearer again The natives say, by the way that a lion will eat every kind of animal including even other lions except a jackal or a hyena I was also interested to notice the way in which the lion got at the flesh of the zebra He took a short run at the body and putting his claws well into the skin in this manner tore off great strips of the high While I was thus studying the picture my followers became impatient at my inactivity and coming up to the top of the rise showed themselves on the skyline The lions saw them at once turning round and standing erect to stare at them There was not an atom of cover to be seen nor any chance of taking advantage of the rolling ground for it did not slope in the required direction So I started to walk in the open in a side-long direction towards the formidable looking pair They allowed me to come a hundred yards or so nearer them and then the lioness bolted the lion following her at a more leisurely trot As soon as they left the body of the zebra my African following made a rush for it and began a fierce fight over the remains so that I had to restore order and leave a coolly to see that our guide got the large share as he deserved In the meantime the lion, hearing the noise of the squabble halted on the crest of the hill to take a deliberate look at me and then disappeared over the brow I jumped on to my mule and galloped as hard as I could after him and luckily found the pair still in sight when I reached the top of the rise As soon as they saw me following them up the lioness took covert in some long grass that almost concealed her when she lay down but the lion continued to move steadily away Accordingly I made for a point which would bring me about two hundred yards to the right of the lioness and which would leave a deep natural hollow between us so as to give me a better chance in the event of a charge of bowling her over as she came up the rise towards me I could plainly make out her light-colored form in the grass so I took careful aim and fired In an instant she was kicking on her back and tossing about evidently hard hit and a few seconds more she lay perfectly still and I saw that she was dead I now turned my attention to the lion who meanwhile had disappeared over another rise By this time Mahina and the other Indian with three or four of the disappointed Wakamba had come up so we started off in a body in pursuit of him I felt sure that he was lurking somewhere in the grass not far off and I knew that I could depend upon the native eye to find him if he showed so much as the tip of his ear nor was I disappointed for we had scarcely topped the next rise when one of the Wakamba spotted the dark brown head of the brute as he raised it for an instant above the grass in order to watch us We pretended not to have seen him however and we advanced to within two hundred yards or so and as he seemed to be getting uneasy I thought it best to risk a shot even at this range I put up the two hundred yard sight and the bullet fell short but the lion never moved raising the sight another fifty yards I rested the rifle on Mahina's back for the next shot and again missed fortunately however the lion still remained quiet I then decided to put into practice the scheme I had thought out the day I set astride and I had killed on the Kapiti plane so I told all my followers to move off to the right taking the mule with them and to make a half circle round the animal while I lay motionless in the grass and waited the ruse succeeded admirably for as the men moved round so did the lion offering me at last a splendid shoulder shot I took very careful steady aim and fired with the result that he rolled over and over one or two attempts to get up but failed I then ran up to within a few yards of him and, helpless as he was with a bullet through both shoulders he was still game and twist round so as to face me giving vent all the time to savage growls a final shot laid him out however and we at once proceeded to skin him while we were busy doing this one of the Wakamba suddenly drew my attention to the fact that we were actually being stocked at that very moment by two other lions who eventually approached to within 500 yards distance and then laid down to watch us skinning their dead brother their big shaggy heads rising every now and again above the grass to give us a prolonged stare at the time I little knew what a stirring adventure was in store for me next day while in pursuit of these same brutes it was almost dark when the skinning process was finished so without delay we started our way back to camp which was about seven miles off the lioness I thought I should leave to be skinned the next day but the men I sent out to do the job on the morrow were unable to find any trace of her they probably missed the place where she lay for I am sure that I killed her it was a good two hours after night had fallen before we got anywhere near the railway and the last few miles I was obliged to do by the guidance of the stars tramping over the plane on a pitch dark night with lions and rhino all about was by no means pleasant work and I heartily wished myself and my men safely back in camp indeed I was beginning to think that I must have lost my bearings and was getting anxious about it when to my relief I heard a rifle shot about half a mile ahead of us I guessed at once that it was fired by my good friend Spooner in order to guide me so I gave a reply signal and on getting to the top of the next rise I saw the plane in front of me all twinkling with lights when he found that I had not returned by nightfall Spooner had become nervous about me and fearing that I had met with some mishap had come out with a number of the workmen in camp to search for me in the direction I had taken in the afternoon he was delighted to find me safe and sound and with a lion's skin as a trophy while I was equally glad to have his escort and company back to camp which was still over a mile away when we had settled down comfortably to dinner that night I fired Spooner's sporting ardour by telling him of the fine pair of lions who had watched us skinning their companion and we agreed at once to go out next day and try to beg them both Spooner and I had often had many friendly arguments in regard to the comparative courage of the lion and the tiger he holding the view that stripes was the more formidable foe while I though admitting to the foe the courage of the tiger maintained from lively personal experience that the lion when once roused was unequaled for pluck and daring and was in fact the most dangerous enemy one could meet with he may at times slink off and not show fight but get him in the mood or wound him and only his death or yours will end the fray that at least was my experience of East African lions I think that Spooner has now come round to my opinion his conversion taking place the next day in a very melancholy manner J. H. Patterson Chapter 24 Buta's Last Shikar Long after I had retired to rest that night I lay awake listening to roar answering roar in every direction round our camp and realised that we were indeed in the midst of a favourite haunt of the king of beasts it is one thing to hear a lion in captivity when one knows he is safe behind iron bars but quite another to listen to him when he is ramping around the vicinity of one's fragile tent which with a single blow he could tear to pieces still all this roaring was of good omen for the next day's sport according to our overnight arrangement we were up betimes in the morning but as there was a great deal of work to be done before we could get away it was quite midday before we made ready to start I ought to mention before going further that as a rule Spooner declined my company on shooting trips as he was convinced that I should get scuppered sooner or later if I persisted in going after lions with a pop-gun as he contemptuously turned to my 303 indeed this was rather a bone of contention between us he being a firm believer and rightly in a heavy weapon for big and dangerous game while I always did my best to defend the 303 which I was in the habit of using on this occasion we affected a compromise for the day I accepting the loan of his spare 12-bore rifle as a second gun in case I should get to close quarters but my experience has been that it is always a very dangerous thing to rely on a borrowed gun or rifle unless it has precisely the same action as one's own and certainly in this instance it almost proved disastrous having thus seen to our rifles an ammunition and taking care also that some brandy was put in the luncheon basket in case of an accident we set off early in the afternoon in Spooner's Tonga which is a two-wheeled cart with a hood over it the party consisted of Spooner and myself Spooner's Indian Shekari Bhuta my own gun-boy Mahina and two other Indians one of whom Imam Din rode in the Tonga while the other led a spare horse called Blaiseway now it may seem a strange plan to go lion-hunting in a Tonga but there is no better way of getting about country like the Athy Plains where, so long as it is dry there is little or nothing to obstruct wheeled traffic once started we rattled over the smooth expanse at a good rate and on the way bagged a heart-a-beast and a couple of gazelle as fresh meat was badly needed in camp besides they offered most tempting shots for they stood stock still gazing at us struck no doubt by the novel appearance of our conveyance next we came upon a herd of wheeled-a-beast and here we allowed Bhuta who was a wary Shekari and an old servant of Spooner's to stalk a solitary bull he was highly pleased at this favour and did the job admirably at last we reached the spot where I had seen the two lions on the previous day a slight hollow covered with long grass but there was now no trace of them to be discovered so we moved further on and had another good beat round after some little time the excitement began by our spying the big tipped ears of a lioness projecting above the grass and the next moment a very fine lion arose from beside her and gave us a full view of his grand head in Maine after staring fixedly at us in an inquiring sort of way as we slowly advanced upon them they both turned and slowly trotted off the lion stopping every now and again to gaze around in our direction very imposing and majestic he looked too as he thus turned his great shaggy head defiantly toward us and Spooner had to admit that it was the finest sight he had ever seen for a while we followed them on foot but finding at length that they were getting away from us and would soon be lost to sight over a bit of rising ground we jumped quickly into the Tonga and galloped round the base of the knoll so as to cut off their retreat the excitement of the rough and bumpy ride being intensified a hundredfold by the probability of our driving slap into the pair on rounding the rise on getting to the other side however they were nowhere to be seen so we drove on as hard as we could to the top once we caught sight of them about four hundred yards away as there seemed to be no prospect of getting nearer we decided to open fire at this range and at the third shot the lioness tumbled over to my 303 at first I thought I had done for her as for a few minutes she lay on the ground kicking and struggling but in the end although evidently badly hit she rose to her feet and followed the lion who had escaped uninjured into some long grass from which we could not hope to dislodge them as it was now late in the afternoon and as there seemed no possibility of inducing the lions to leave the thicket in which they had concealed themselves we turned back toward camp intending to come out again the next day to track the wounded lioness I was now riding blaze away and was trotting along in advance of the Tonga when suddenly he shied badly at a hyena which sprang up out of the grass almost from beneath his feet and quickly scampered off I pulled up for a moment and sat watching the hyena's ungainly bounds wondering whether he were worth a shot suddenly I felt blaze away trembling violently beneath me and on looking over my left shoulder to discover the reason I was startled to see two fine lions not more than a hundred yards away evidently the pair which I had seen the day before and which we had really come in search of they looked as if they meant to dispute our passage for they came slowly toward me for about ten yards or so and then lay down watching me steadily all the time I called out to Spooner here are the lions I told you about and he whipped up the ponies and in a moment or two was beside me with the Tonga by this time I had seized my 303 and dismounted so we at once commenced a cautious advance on the crouching lions the arrangement being that Spooner was to take the right hand one and I the other we had got to within 60 yards range without incident and were just about to sit down comfortably to pot them when they suddenly surprised us by turning and bolting off I managed however to put a bullet into the one I had marked just as he crested a bank and he looked very grand as he reared up against the sky and clawed the air on feeling the lead for a second or two he gave me the impression that he was about to charge but luckily he changed his mind his companion who had so far escaped scot-free I immediately mounted blaze away and galloped off in hot pursuit and after about half a mile of very stiff going got up with them once more finding now that they could not get away they halted came to bay and then charged down upon me the wounded lion leading I had left my rifle behind so all I could do was to turn and fly as fast as blaze away could go praying inwardly the while I could not put his foot into a hole when the lions saw that they were unable to overtake me they gave up the chase and lay down again the wounded one being about two hundred yards in front of the other at once I pulled up too and then went back a little way keeping a careful eye upon them and I continued these tactics of riding up and down at a respectful distance until spooner came up with the rifles when we renewed the attack as a first measure I thought it advisable to disable the unhurt lion if possible and still using the 303 I got him with the second shot at a range of about three hundred yards he seemed badly hit for he sprang into the air and apparently fell heavily I then exchanged my 303 for spooner's spare twelve-war rifle and we turned our attention to the nearer lion who all this time had been lying perfectly still watching our movements closely and evidently just waiting to be down upon us the moment we came within charging distance he was never given this opportunity however for we did not approach nearer than 90 yards when spooner sat down comfortably and knocked him over quite dead with one shot from his 577 the bullet entering the left shoulder obliquely and passing through the heart it was now dusk and there was no time to be lost if we meant to bag the second lion as well we therefore resumed our cautious advance moving to the right as we went so as to get behind us what light there was remaining the lion, of course, twisted round in the grass in such a way as always to keep facing us and looked very ferocious so that I was convinced that unless he were entirely disabled by the first shot he would be down on us like a whirlwind all the same I felt confident that even in this event one of us would succeed in stopping him before he could do any damage but in this I was unfortunately to be proved mistaken eventually we managed to get within eighty yards of the enraged animal I being about five yards to the left front of Spooner who was followed by Buta at about the same distance to his right rear by this time the lion was beside himself with fury growling savagely and raising quite a cloud of dust by lashing his tail against the ground it was clearly high time that we did something so, asking Spooner to fire dropped on one knee and waited nor was I kept long and suspense for the moment Spooner's shot rang out up jumped the lion and charged down in a B line for me coming in long low bounds at a great speed I fired the right barrel at about fifty yards but apparently missed the left at about half that range still without stopping effect I knew then that there was no time to reload so remained kneeling expecting him to be on me the next moment suddenly just as he was within a bound of me he made a quick turn to my right good heavens I thought he's going for Spooner I was wrong in this however for like a flash he passed Spooner also and with a last tremendous bound seized Buta by the leg and rolled over and over with him for some yards in the impetus of the rush finally he stood over him and tried to seize him by the throat which the brave fellow prevented by courageously stuffing his left arm right into the great jaws poor Buta by moving at the critical moment the lion's attention from me and had drawn the whole fury of the charge onto himself all this of course happened in only a second or two in the short instant that intervened I felt a cartridge thrust into my hand by Spooner's plucky servant Imam Din who had carried the twelve bore all day and who had stuck to me gallantly throughout the charge and shoving it in I rushed as quickly as I could to Buta's rescue meanwhile Spooner had got there before me and when I came up I put my left hand on the lion's flank in a vain attempt to push him off Buta's prostrate body and so get at the heavy rifle which the poor fellow still stoutly clutched the lion however was so busily engaged mauling Buta's arm that he paid not the slightest attention to Spooner's efforts unfortunately as he was facing straight in my direction I had to move up in full view of him and the moment I reached his head he stopped chewing the arm though still holding it in his mouth preparing for a spring at the same time curling back his lips and exposing his long tusks in a savage snarl I knew then that I had not a moment to spare so I threw the rifle up to my shoulder and pulled the trigger imagine my utter despair and horror when it did not go off misfire again I thought and my heart almost stopped beating as I took a step backward I felt it was all over now for he would never give me time again still I took another step backwards keeping my eyes fixed on the lions which were blazing with rage and in the middle of my third step just as the brute was gathering himself for his spring it suddenly struck me that in my haste and excitement I had forgotten that I was using a borrowed rifle and had not pulled back the hammer my own was hammerless to do this and put a bullet through the lion's brain was then the work of a moment and he fell dead instantly we did not lose a moment enrolling his great carcass off Buta's body and quickly forced open the jaws so as to disengage the mangled arm which still remained in his mouth by this time the poor Shikari was in a fainting condition and we flew to the Tonga for the brandy flask which we had so providentially brought with us on making a rough examination of the wounded man we found that his left arm and right leg were both frightfully mauled the latter being broken as well he was lifted tenderly into the Tonga how thankful we were now to have it with us and Spooner at once set off with him to camp and the doctor before following them home I made a hasty examination of the dead lion and found him to be a very good specimen in every way I was particularly satisfied to see that one of the two shots I had fired as he charged down upon me had taken effect the bullet had entered below the right eye and only just missed the brain unfortunately it was a steel one which Spooner had unluckily brought in his ammunition bag by mistake still one would have thought that a shot of this kind even with a hard bullet would at least have checked the lion for the moment as a matter of fact however it went clean through him without having the slightest stopping effect my last bullet which was a soft lead had entered close to the right eye and embedded itself in the brain by this time it had grown almost dark the dead lions where they lay and rode for camp which I was lucky enough to reach without further adventure or mishap I may mention here that early next morning two other lions were found devouring the one we had first shot but they had not had time to do much damage and the head which I have had mounted makes a very fine trophy indeed the lion that mauled Buta was untouched on my arrival in camp I found that everything that was possible was being done for poor Buta by Dr. McCulloch the same who had travelled up with me to Tsavo and shot the ostrich from the train on my first arrival in the country and who was luckily on the spot his wounds had been skillfully dressed the broken leg put in splints and under the influence of a soothing draft the poor fellow was soon sleeping peacefully at first we had great hope of saving both life and limb and certainly for some days he seemed to be getting on as well as could be expected the wounds however were very bad ones especially those on the leg where the long tusks had met through and through the flesh leaving over a dozen deep tooth marks the arm though dreadfully mauled soon healed it was wonderful to notice how cheerfully the old Shikari bore it all and a pleasure to listen to his tale of how he would have his revenge on the whole tribe of lions as soon as he was able to get about again but alas his Shikar was over the leg got rapidly worse and mortification setting in it had to be amputated halfway up the thigh Dr. Winston Waters performed the operation most skillfully and curiously enough the operating table was canopied with the skin of the lion which had been responsible for the injury Buta made a good recovery from the operation but seemed to lose heart when he found that he had only one leg left as according to his ideas he had now but a poor chance of being allowed to enter heaven we did all that was possible for him and Spooner especially could not have looked after a brother more tenderly but to our great sorrow he sank gradually and died on July 19 the hunt which had such a disastrous sequel proved to be the last occasion on which I met a lion in the open as we got out of the hunting country shortly afterward and for the rest of my stay in East Africa I had too much work to do to be able to go any distance in search of big game End of Chapter 24 Chapter 25 of The Man-eaters of Savo This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org The Man-eaters of Savo by J. H. Patterson Chapter 25 Towards the end of my stay in British East Africa I dined one evening with Mr. Ryle the superintendent of the police in his inspection carriage on the railway Poor Ryle, my little thought then what a terrible fate was to overtake him only a few months later in that very carriage in which we dined A man eating lion had taken up his quarters at a little roadside station called Kimma and had developed an extraordinary taste for the members of the railway staff He was a most daring brute quite indifferent as to whether he carried off the station master the signalman or the pointsman and one night in his efforts to obtain a meal he actually climbed up on the roof of the station buildings and tried to tear off the corrugated iron sheets At this the terrified Babu in charge of the telegraphed instrument below sent the following laconic message to the traffic manager lion fighting with station send urgent succor Fortunately he was not victorious in his fight with the station but he tried so hard to get in that he cut his feet badly on the iron sheeting leaving large blood stains on the roof Another night however he succeeded in carrying off the native driver of the pumping engine and soon afterwards added several other victims to his list On one occasion an engine driver arranged to sit up all night in a large iron water tank in the hope of getting a shot at him and had a loophole cut in the side of the tank from which to fire but as so often happens the hunter became the hunted the lion turned up in the middle of the night over through the tank and actually tried to drag the driver out through the narrow circular hole in the top through which he had squeezed in Fortunately the tank was just too deep for the brute to be able to reach the man at the bottom but the ladder was naturally half paralyzed with fear and had to crouch so low down as to be unable to take anything like proper aim He fired however and succeeded in frightening the lion away for the time being It was in a vain attempt to destroy this pest that poor Ryle met his tragic and untimely end On June 6, 1900 he was traveling up in his inspection carriage from McKindoo to Nairobi accompanied by two friends Mr. Huebner and Mr. Parenti When they reached Kimo 250 miles from Mombasa they were told that the manager had been seen close to the station only a short time before their train arrived so they had once made up their minds to remain there for the night and endeavour to shoot him Ryle's carriage was accordingly detached from the train and shunted into a side and close to the station where owing to the unfinished state of the line it did not stand perfectly level and was left list to one side In the afternoon the three friends went out to look for the lion but finding no traces of him whatever they returned to the carriage for dinner Afterwards they all sat up on guard for some time but the only noticeable thing they saw was what they took to be two very bright and steady glow worms After events proved that these could have been nothing else than the eyes of the man-eaters steadily watching them for every movement The hour now growing late and there being apparently no sign of the lion Ryle persuaded his two friends to lie down while he kept the first watch and Hübner occupied the high berth over the table on the one side of the carriage the only other berth being on the opposite side of the compartment and lower down This Ryle offered to Perenti who declined it saying that he would be quite comfortable and he accordingly lay down to sleep with his feet towards the sliding door which gave admission to the carriage It is supposed that Ryle after watching for some considerable time must have come to the conclusion that the lion was not going to make its appearance that night for he lay down on the lower berth and dozed off No sooner had he done so doubtless than the cunning man-eater began cautiously to stalk the three sleepers In order to reach the little platform at the end of the carriage he had to mount two very high steps from the railway line but these he managed to negotiate successfully and in silence The door from this platform into the carriage was a sliding one on wheels which ran very easily on a brass runner and as it was probably not quite shudder at any rate not secured in any way it was an easy matter for the lion to thrust in a paw and shove it open into the tilt of the carriage into his great extra weight on one side the door slid to and snapped into the lock the moment he got his body right in thus leaving him shut up with the three sleeping men in the compartment He sprang it once at Ryle but in order to reach him had actually to plant his feet on Parenti who it will be remembered was sleeping on the floor At this moment Huebner was suddenly awakened by a loud cry and on looking down from his berth was horrified to see an enormous lion standing with his hind feet on Parenti's body while his four paws rested on poor Ryle small wonder that he was panic-stricken at the sight there was only one possible way of escape and that was through the second sliding door communicating with the servants' quarters which was opposite to that by which the lion had entered but in order to reach this door Huebner had literally to jump on the man-eater's back for its great bulk filled up all the space beneath his berth It sounds scarcely credible but appears that in the excitement and horror of the moment he actually did this and fortunately the lion was too busily engaged with his victim to pay any attention to him so he managed to reach the door in safety but there to his dismay he found that it was held fast on the other side by the terrified Cooleys who had been aroused by the disturbance caused by the lion's entrance in utter desperation he made frantic efforts to open it and exerting all his strength at last managed to pull it back sufficiently far to allow him to squeeze through when the trembling Cooleys instantly tied it up again with their turbans a moment afterwards a great crash was heard and the whole carriage lurched violently to one side the lion had broken through one of the windows carrying off poor Ryle with him being now released Perenni lost no time in jumping through the window on the opposite side of the carriage and fled for refuge to one of the station buildings his escape was a little short of miraculous as the lion had been actually standing on him as he lay on the floor the carriage itself was badly shattered and the woodwork of the window had been broken to pieces by the passage of the lion as he sprang through with his victim in his mouth all that can be hoped is that poor Ryle's death was instantaneous his remains were found next morning about a quarter of a mile away in the bush and were taken to Nairobi for burial I am glad to be able to add that very shortly afterwards the terrible brute who was responsible for this awful tragedy was caught in an ingenious trap constructed by one of the railway staff he was kept on view for several days and then shot End of Chapter 25