When The Camp Was
Not Being Attacked By Man-Eating Lions, It Was
Visited By Leopards, Hyenas, Wild Dogs, Wild
Cats,
and other inhabitants of the jungle around us.
These animals did a great deal of damage to the
herds
Of sheep and goats which were kept to
supply the commissariat, and there was always
great rejoicing when a capture was made in one
of the many traps that were laid for them.
Leopards especially are most destructive, often
killing simply for pleasure and not for food: and
I have always harboured animosity towards them
since the night when one wantonly destroyed a
whole herd of mine. I happened at the time
to have a flock of about thirty sheep and goats
which I kept for food and for milk, and which
were secured at sundown in a grass hut at one
corner of my boma. One particularly dark night
we were startled by a tremendous commotion
in this shed, but as this was before the man-eaters
were killed, no one dared stir out to investigate
the cause of the disturbance. I naturally thought
that the intruder was one of the "demons," but
all I could do was to fire several shots in the
direction of the hut, hoping to frighten him away.
In spite of these, however, it was some time before
the noise died down and everything became still
again. As soon as it was dawn I went to the
shed to see what had happened, and there, to
my intense anger, I found every one of my sheep
and goats lying stretched dead, on the ground
with its throat bitten through. A hole had been
made through the frail wall of the shed, and I
saw from this and from the tracks all round
that the author of the wholesale slaughter had
been a leopard. He had not eaten one of the
flock, but had killed them all out of pure love of
destruction.
I hoped that he would return the next night
to make a meal; and should he do so, I determined
to have my revenge. I accordingly left the
carcases exactly as they lay, and having a very
powerful steel trap - like an enormous rat-trap,
and quite strong enough to hold a leopard if
he should put his foot in it - I placed this in the
opening into the shed and secured it by a stout
chain to a long stake driven into the ground
outside. Darkness found everyone in my boma
on the alert and listening anxiously to hear the
noise the leopard would make the moment he was
caught in the trap. Nor were we disappointed,
for about midnight we heard the click of the
powerful spring, followed immediately by frantic
roaring and plunging. I had been sitting all
evening with my rifle by my side and a lantern
lighted, so I immediately rushed out, followed by
the chaukidar (watchman) carrying the lamp.
As we approached the shed, the leopard made
a frantic spring in our direction as far as the
chain would allow him, and this so frightened
the chaukidar that he fled in terror, leaving me
in utter darkness. The night was as black as
had been the previous one, and I could see
absolutely nothing; but I knew the general
direction in which to fire and accordingly emptied
my magazine at the beast. As far as I could
make out, he kept dodging in and out through the
broken wall of the goat-house; but in a short
time my shots evidently told, as his struggles
ceased and all was still. I called out that he
was dead, and at once everyone in the boma
turned out, bringing all the lanterns in the place.
With the others came my Indian overseer, who
shouted that he too wanted revenge, as some of
the goats had belonged to him. Whereupon
he levelled his revolver at the dead leopard,
and shutting his eyes tightly, fired four shots in
rapid succession. Naturally not one of these
touched the beast, but they caused considerable
consternation amongst the onlookers, who
scattered rapidly to right and left. Next morning
a party of starving Wa Kamba happened to
be passing just as I was about to skin the leopard,
and asked by means of signs to be allowed to
do the job for me and then to take the meat. I
of course assented to this proposal, and in a very
few minutes the skin had been neatly taken off,
and the famishing natives began a ravenous meal
on the raw flesh.
Wild dogs are also very destructive, and often
caused great losses among our sheep and goats.
Many a night have I listened to these animals
hunting and harrying some poor creature of the
wilds round my camp; they never relinquish
a chase, and will attack anything, man or beast,
when really driven by hunger. I was at Tsavo
Station one day - unfortunately without my rifle -
when one of these dogs came up and stood
within about thirty yards of me. He was a
fine-looking beast, bigger than a collie, with
jet-black hair and a white-tipped bushy tail.
I was very sorry that I had not brought my
rifle, as I badly wanted a specimen and never
had another chance of obtaining one.
CHAPTER XI
THE SWAHILI AND OTHER NATIVE TRIBES
I have always been very keenly interested in
the different native races of Africa, and
consequently availed myself of every opportunity
of studying their manners and customs. I had
little scope for this at Tsavo, however, as the
district around us was practically uninhabited.
Still there was of course a good number of
Swahili among my workmen, together with a few
Wa Kamba, Wa N'yam Wezi, and others, so I
soon became more or less acquainted with the
habits of these tribes. The Swahili live principally
along the coast of British East Africa and at
Zanzibar. They are a mixed race, being the
descendants of Arab fathers and negro mothers.
Their name is derived from the Arabic word
suahil, coast; but it has also been said, by some
who have found them scarcely so guileless as
might have been expected, to be really a corruption
of the words sawa hili, that is, "those who
cheat all alike." However that may be, the men
are as a rule of splendid physique and well
qualified for the calling that the majority of
them follow, that of caravan porters.
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