s. Instead of wishing to murder me, as they
once did, they could not now do enough for me, and as a token of their
gratitude they presented me with a beautiful silver bowl, as well as
with a long poem written in Hindustani describing all our trials and my
ultimate victory. As the poem relates our troubles in somewhat quaint
and biblical language, I have given a translation of it in the
appendix. The bowl I shall always consider my most highly prized and
hardest won trophy. The inscription on it reads as follows:--

SIR,--We, your Overseer, Timekeepers, Mistaris and Workmen, present you
with this bowl as a token of our gratitude to you for your bravery in
killing two man-eating lions at great risk to your own life, thereby
saving us from the fate of being devoured by these terrible monsters
who nightly broke into our tents and took our fellow-workers from our
side. In presenting you with this bowl, we all add our prayers for your
long life, happiness and prosperity. We shall ever remain, Sir, Your
grateful servants,

Baboo PURSHOTAM HURJEE PURMAR,
Overseer and Clerk of Works,
on behalf of your Workmen.
Dated at Tsavo, January 30, 1899.

Before I leave the subject of "the man-eaters of Tsavo," it may be of
interest to mention that these two lions possess the distinction,
probably unique among wild animals, of having been specifically
referred to in the House of Lords by the Prime Minister of the day.
Speaking of the difficulties which had been encountered in the
construction of the Uganda Railway, the late Lord Salisbury said:--

"The whole of the works were put a stop to for three weeks because a
party of man-eating lions appeared in the locality and conceived a most
unfortunate taste for our porters. At last the labourers entirely
declined to go on unless they were guarded by an iron entrenchment. Of
course it is difficult to work a railway under these conditions, and
until we found an enthusiastic sportsman to get rid of these lions, our
enterprise was seriously hindered."

Also, The Spectator of March 3, 1900, had an article entitled "The
Lions that Stopped the Railway," from which the following extracts are
taken:--

"The parallel to the story of the lions which stopped the rebuilding of
Samaria must occur to everyone, and if the Samaritans had quarter as
good cause for their fears as had the railway coolies, their wish to
propitiate the local deities is easily understood. If the whole body of