On hearing this dreadful story I at once set out
to try to track the animal, and was accompanied by
Captain Haslem, who happened to be staying at
Tsavo at the time, and who, poor fellow, himself
met with a tragic fate very shortly afterwards. We
found it an easy matter to follow the route taken by
the lion, as he appeared to have stopped several
times before beginning his meal. Pools of blood
marked these halting-places, where he doubtless indulged in the man-eaters' habit of licking the skin
off so as to get at the fresh blood. (I have been
led to believe that this is their custom from the
appearance of two half-eaten bodies which I subse-
quently rescued: the skin was gone in places, and
the flesh looked dry, as if it had been sucked.)

Chapter 2