ad grown almost dark, so I left the two 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 Bhoota was untouched.

On my arrival in camp I found that everything that was possible was
being done for poor Bhoota 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 skilfully dressed, the broken leg put in splints, and under the
influence of a soothing draught 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
half way up the thigh.

Dr. Winston Waters performed the operation most skilfully, and
curiously enough the operating table was canopied with the skin of the
lion which had been responsible for the injury. Bhoota 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 afterwards 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.

CHAPTER XXV

A MAN-EATER IN A RAILW