Canoes on the River Bara-Issa
Most of the inhabitants of the river-banks are occupied in trade with Timbuctu, Mopti, and Djenné, or else are fisherfolk; consequently they spend a great portion of their lives in canoes. These canoes are roomy and provided with overhead shelters as a protection from the sun.
It was while I was near Saraféré that I got my lion. One afternoon I heard news of a lion having been seen that morning, about fifteen miles from my camp. He had attacked a herd of Fulani cattle, making off with one of the cows.
I lost no time in setting out for the village nearest to the scene of the “kill.” I rode off with a guide to show the way, leaving my kit to follow me the same evening. That night I camped at the village to which the cow belonged.
There seemed every prospect of my finding the lion the following morning, for he would probably despatch his meal in his lair hard by, and rest there to sleep off the effects for some hours.
Accompanied by my two hunters and a native who knew the spot, I set out before daylight. We had to cross a stream which lay between the village and the place where the cow had been killed. On the other side was a sandy scrub country, dotted about with the ever-present dum palms. These palms here grew in clumps, some of which were a hundred yards in diameter, but the palms themselves were more in the nature of bushes, and not more than twelve feet high. It was beginning to get light, but the undergrowth in these clumps was so thick that one could seldom see more than a few yards inside. These clumps were the lair of the lion, although it was not certain in which one he would then be found.
After tracking him from his “kill” for some distance, we discovered the place where he had dragged the remains of his victim. However, it was soon evident that he had since emerged from there, and we now followed his pug marks of that morning, clearly defined in the sandy soil. At last he was traced to a certain clump, thicker than the rest, in which he certainly was lying. It being impossible to see inside, the only plan was to try to frighten the brute out. Accordingly I sent the beater and hunters to different points, where, at a given signal, they were to commence to shout and beat the bush with the object of driving him towards me. The ruse succeeded in causing him to bound out of his hiding-place, but unfortunately on the opposite side to me, so that I never saw him. I dashed round to the far side and just caught a glimpse of him disappearing towards another clump of palms.
Now ensued a curious race between us and the lion. I knew that, should I lose sight of him for long, he would probably give me the slip, for these beasts travel great distances when alarmed.
We accordingly pursued him at our best speed, until he was viewed disappearing into another clump. Again he got away before I had a chance of a shot. This race continued for another mile or so, when I was decidedly winded and the perspiration streaming off me. At last I came up with the beast, in a palm grove, and, cautiously following his tracks into the bush for a few paces, I suddenly saw him, in a more open spot than usual, about forty yards away.