Whenever Afterwards I Wanted
To Chaff This "Boy", I Had Only To Ask Whether
He Would Like To Come And See Some More Shikar.
He Would Then Look Very Solemn, Shake His Head
Emphatically And Assure Me "Kabhi Nahin, Sahib"
("Never Again, Sir").
CHAPTER XXIII
A SUCCESSFUL LION HUNT
When the Athi 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 at
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-bred
Masai, clothed in a very inadequate piece of
wildebeeste 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 a 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
down 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 plied him
with questions - were they both lions or lionesses?
had they manes? how far away were they? and
so on. Naturally, to the last question he was
bound to answer "M'bali kidogo." 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 Masai as guide, started off
accompanied by my faithful Mahina and another
coolie 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 travelled 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 Wa Kamba, even more scantily attired
than our guide, and soon a dispute arose between
these hangers-on and the old Masai, 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 one of
the long swells in the ground, our guide extended
a long skinny finger and said proudly, "Tazama,
Bwana" ("See, Master"). 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 on the carcase 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, when 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 hide.
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 sky-line. 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 sidelong 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.
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