He
Proved To Be A Very Fat Beast, So I Knew That
Mahina Would Make A Few Honest And Well-Earned
Rupees Out Of Him, For Indians Will Give
Almost Anything For Lion Fat, Believing That It Is
An Infallible Cure For Rheumatism And Various
Other Diseases.
When at length the skinning
process was completed, I waited impatiently
for the return of Mahina, who had by this time
been gone much longer than I expected.
It is
rather a nerve shattering thing - I am speaking
for myself - to remain absolutely alone for hours
on a vast open plain beside the carcase of a
dead lion, with vultures incessantly wheeling
about above one, and with nothing to be seen or
heard for miles around except wild animals. It
was a great relief, therefore, when after a long
wait I saw Mahina approaching with half-a-dozen
practically naked natives in his train. It turned
out that he had lost his way back to me, so that
it was lucky he found me at all. We lost no time
in getting back to camp, arriving there just at
sundown, when my first business was to rub
wood ashes into the skin and then stretch it on
a portable frame which I had made a few days
previously. The camp fire was a big one that
night, and the graphic and highly coloured
description which Mahina gave to the eager circle
of listeners of the way in which we slew the
lion would have made even "Bahram, that great
Hunter," anxious for his fame.
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