I had only been a few days at Tsavo whenI first
heard that these brutes had been seen in the neigh-
bourhood. Shortly afterwards one or two coolies
mysteriously disappeared, and I was told that they
had been carried off by night from their tents and
devoured by lions. At the time I did not credit
this story, and was more inclined to believe that the
unfortunate men had been the victims of foul play
at the hands of some of their comrades. They
were, as it happened, very good workmen, and had
each saved a fair number of rupees, so I thought it
quite likely that some scoundrels from the gangs
had murdered them for the sake of their money.
This suspicion, however, was very soon dispelled.

Chapter 2