[This is a true story. At the end of last century the author arrived in East Africa to take up a position on the staff of the Uganda railway, which was then being built. He was sent to Tsavo, over one hundred miles from the coast, to take charge of the construction of the line at that place. The workmen were mainly coolies from India. Tsavo was in the lion country. And what lions! They entered camps and carried off coolies, they outwitted guards, and before long they had the workmen so terror-stricken that all work on the line was held up. Despite Patterson"s determination to shoot the two man- eaters, they seemed to bear charmed lives. At the time the story opens, one of the lions has been missed at close range.]
After this dismal failure there was, of course, nothing to do but to return to camp. Before doing so, however, I proceeded to view the dead donkey, which I found to have been only slightly devoured at the quarters. It is a curious fact that lions always begin at the tail of their prey and eat upwards towards the head. As their meal had thus been interrupted evidently at the very beginning, I felt sure that one or other of the brutes would return to the carcass at nightfall.
Accordingly, as there was no tree of any kind close at hand, I had a staging erected some ten feet away from thebody. This was about twelve feet high, and was composed of four poles stuck into the ground and inclined towards each other at the top, where a plank was lashed to serve as a seat. Further, as the nights were still pitch dark, I had the donkey"s carcass secured by strong wires to a neighbouring stump, so that the hons might not be able to drag it away before I could get a shot at them.
At sundown, therefore, I took up my position on my airy perch, and much to the disgust of my gun-bearer, Mahina, I decided to go alone. I would gladly have taken him with me indeed, but he had a bad cough, and I was afraid lest he should make any noise or movement which might spoil all. Darkness fell almost immediately, and everything became extraordinarily still. The silence of an African jungle on a dark night needs to he experienced to be realized; it is most impressive, especially when one is absolutely alone and isolated from one"s fellow creatures, as I was then.
Suddenly I was startled by the snapping of a twig: and, straining my ears for a further sound, I fancied I could hear the rustling of a large body forcing its way through the bush. "The man-eater," I thought to myself; "surely to-night my luck will change and I shall bag one of the brutes." Profound silence again succeeded; I sat on my eyrie like a statue, every nerve tense with excitement. Very soon, however, all doubt was dispelled. A deep, long-drawn sigh-sure sign of hunger- came up from the bushes, and the rustling commenced againas he cautiously advanced. In a moment or two a sudden stop, followed by an angry growl, told me that my presence had been noticed; and I began to fear that disappointment awaited me once more.
But no; matters quickly took an unexpected turn. The hunter became the hunted; and, instead of either making off or coming for the bait prepared for him, the lion began stealthily to stalk me! For about two hours he horrified me by slowly creeping round and round my crazy structure, gradually edging his way nearer and nearer. Every moment I expected him to rush it; and the staging had not been constructed with an eye to such a possibility. If one of the rather flimsy poles should break, or if the lion could spring the twelve feet which separated me from the ground … the thought was scarcely a pleasant one. I began to feel distinctly " creepy," and heartily repented my folly in having placed myself in such a dangerous position.
I kept perfectly still, however, hardly daring even to blink my eyes; but the long-continued strain was telling on my nerves. About midnight, suddenly something came flop and struck me on the back of the head. For a moment I was so terrified that I nearly fell off the plank, as I thought that the lion had sprung on me from behind. Regaining my senses in a second or two, I realized that l had been hit by nothing more formidable than an owl, which had doubtless mistaken me for the branch of a tree-not a very alarming thing to happenin ordinary circumstances, I admit, but coming at the time it did, it almost paralyzed me. The start which I could not help giving was immediately answered by a sinister growl from below.
After this I again kept as still as I could, though trembling with excitement; and in a short while I heard the lion begin to creep stealthily towards me. I could barely make out his form as he crouched among the whitish undergrowth; but I saw enough for my purpose, and before he could come any nearer. I took careful aim and pulled the trigger. The sound of the shot was at once followed by a most terrific roar, and then I could hear him leaping about in all directions. I was no longer able to see him, however, as his first bound had taken him into the thick bush; but, to make assurance doubly sure, I kept blazing away in the direction in which I heard him plunging about. At length came a series of mighty groans. gradually subsiding into deep sighs, and finally ceasing altogether; and I felt convinced that one of the "devils" that had so long harried us would trouble us no more.
As soon as I ceased firing, a tumult of inquiring voices was borne across the dark jungle from the men in camp about a quarter of a mile away. I shouted back that I was safe and sound, and that one of the lions was dead; whereupon such a mighty cheer went up from all the camps as must have astonished the denizens of the jungle for miles around. Shortly after I saw scores of lights twinkling through thebushes; every man in camp turned out, and with tom-toms beating and horns blowing came running to the scene. They surrounded my eyrie, and to my amazement prostrated themselves on the ground before me, saluting me with cries of "Mabarak! Mabarak!" which, I believe, means " blessed one" or "saviour."All the same, I refused to allow any search to be made that night for the body of the lion, in case his companion might be close by; besides, it was possible that he might be still alive, and capable of making a last spring. Accordingly we all returned in triumph to the camp, where great rejoicings were kept up for the remainder of the night, the Swahili and other African natives celebrating the occasion by an especially wild and savage dance.
For my part, I anxiously awaited the dawn; and even before it was thoroughly light I was on my way to the eventful spot, as I could not completely persuade myself that even yet the "devil" might not have eluded me in some uncanny and mysterious way. Happily my fears proved groundless, and I was relieved to find that my luck-after playing me so many exasperating tricks-had really turned at last. On rounding a bush, I was startled to see a huge lion right in front of me seemingly alive and crouching for a spring. On looking closer, however,1 satisfied myself that he was really and truly stone- dead, whereupon my followers crowded round, laughed and danced and shouted with joy like children, and bore me intriumph shoulder-high round the dead body.
These thanksgiving ceremonies being over, I examined the body and found that two bullets had taken effect- one close behind the left shoulder, evidently penetrating the heart, and the other in the off hind leg. The prize was indeed one to be proud of; his length from tip of nose to tip of tail was nine feet eight inches, he stood three feet nine inches high, and it took eight men to carry him back to camp. The only blemish was that the skin was much scored by the thorns through which he had so often forced his way in carrying off his victims.
The news of the death of one of the notorious man- eaters soon spread far and wide over the country; telegrams of congratulation came pouring in, and scores of people flocked from up and down the railway to see the skin for themselves.
From The Man-Eaters of Tsavo, by J. H. Patterson.
Author.-Lieutenant-Colonel J. H. Patterson (born 1867) served in the South African war (1900-1902) and in the World War in Egypt, Gallipoli, France, and Palestine. He is the author of the following books:-The Man-eaters of Tsavo (1907), In the Grip of the Nyika (1909), With the Zionists in Gallipoli (1916), With the Judeans in the Palestine Campaign (1922).
General Notes.-The Uganda railway runs from Mombasa on the eastern coast to Kisum on the north shore of Lake Victoria. You willprobably find the railway marked in your atlas. Tsavo is about 100 miles from Mombasa. This part of Africa is noted for its big game. The Swahili are East African people living on Zanzibar and the neighbouring coast of the mainland.