e kept
burning all night, and it was also the duty of the night-watchman to
keep clattering half a dozen empty oil tins suspended from a convenient
tree. These he manipulated by means of a long rope, while sitting in
safety within his tent; and the frightful noise thus produced was kept
up at frequent intervals during the night in the hopes of terrifying
away the man-eaters. In spite of all these precautions, however, the
lions would not be denied, and men continued to disappear.

When the railhead workmen moved on, their hospital camp was left
behind. It stood rather apart from the other camps, in a clearing about
three-quarters of a mile from my hut, but was protected by a good thick
fence and to all appearance was quite secure. It seemed, however, as if
barriers were of no avail against the "demons", for before very long
one of them found a weak spot in the boma and broke through. On this
occasion the Hospital Assistant had a marvellous escape. Hearing a
noise outside, he opened the door of his tent and was horrified to see
a great lion standing a few yards away looking at him. The beast made a
spring towards him, which gave the Assistant such a fright that he
jumped backwards, and in doing so luckily upset a box containing
medical stores. This crashed down with such a loud clatter of breaking
glass that the lion was startled for the moment and made off to another
part of the enclosure. Here, unfortunately, he was more successful, as
he jumped on to and broke through a tent in which eight patients were
lying. Two of them were badly wounded by his spring, while a third poor
wretch was seized and dragged off bodily through the thorn fence. The
two wounded coolies were left where they lay, a piece of torn tent
having fallen over them; and in this position the doctor and I found
them on our arrival soon after dawn next morning. We at once decided to
move the hospital closer to the main camp; a fresh site was prepared, a
stout hedge built round the enclosure, and all the patients were moved
in before nightfall.

As I had heard that lions generally visit recently deserted camps, I
decided to sit up all night in the vacated boma in the hope of getting
an opportunity of bagging one of them; but in the middle of my lonely
vigil I had the mortification of hearing shrieks and cries coming from
the direction of the new hospital, telling me only too plainly that our
dreaded foes had once more eluded me. Hurrying to the place at