daylight
I found that one of the lions had jumped over the newly erected fence
and had carried off the hospital bhisti (water-carrier), and that
several other coolies had been unwilling witnesses of the terrible
scene which took place within the circle of light given by the big camp
fire. The bhisti, it appears, had been lying on the floor, with his
head towards the centre of the tent and his feet neatly touching the
side. The lion managed to get its head in below the canvas, seized him
by the foot and pulled him out. In desperation the unfortunate
water-carrier clutched hold of a heavy box in a vain attempt to prevent
himself being carried off, and dragged it with him until he was forced
to let go by its being stopped by the side of the tent. He then caught
hold of a tent rope, and clung tightly to it until it broke. As soon as
the lion managed to get him clear of the tent, he sprang at his throat
and after a few vicious shakes the poor bhisti's agonising cries were
silenced for ever. The brute then seized him in his mouth, like a huge
cat with a mouse, and ran up and down the boma looking for a weak spot
to break through. This he presently found and plunged into, dragging
his victim with him and leaving shreds of torn cloth and flesh as
ghastly evidences of his passage through the thorns. Dr. Brock and I
were easily able to follow his track, and soon found the remains about
four hundred yards away in the bush. There was the usual horrible
sight. Very little was left of the unfortunate bhisti--only the skull,
the jaws, a few of the larger bones and a portion of the palm with one
or two fingers attached. On one of these was a silver ring, and this,
with the teeth (a relic much prized by certain castes), was sent to the
man's widow in India.

Again it was decided to move the hospital; and again, before nightfall,
the work was completed, including a still stronger and thicker boma.
When the patients had been moved, I had a covered goods-wagon placed in
a favourable position on a siding which ran close to the site which had
just been abandoned, and in this Brock and I arranged to sit up that
night. We left a couple of tents still standing within the enclosure,
and also tied up a few cattle in it as bait for the lions, who had been
seen in no less than three different places in the neighbourhood during
the afternoon (April 23). Four miles from Tsavo they had attempted to
seize a coolie who was walking along the line. Fortun