Author Description

The legendary man-eating lions of Tsavo terrorized a railroad camp in Kenya more than a century ago, killing 135 people. Col. Patterson writes in his account that he wounded the first lion with one bullet from a Martini-Enfield chambered in.303 calibre. Later, it returned and he shot it through the shoulder, penetrating its heart with a.303 Lee Enfield, and found it lying dead the next morning not far from his platform. The second lion was shot at most nine times, five with a.303 Lee Enfield, three with a Martini-Henry carbine, and once with an unidentified rifle. Two, both from the Lee Enfield, were shot into it ten days later as the lion was stalking Patterson and trying to flee. When they had found the lion the next day thereafter, Patterson shot it three more times with the Lee Enfield, severely crippling it, and shot it three times with the Martini-Henry carbine, twice in the chest, and once in the head, which killed it. He claimed it died gnawing on a fallen tree branch, still trying to reach him.