|
 | |  | |
The following are memories recalled by Bruce Atkinson, as recorded by Hanover Housing Association in their book 'Tale of the Century' published in 1999.
During 1958 in Kenya there was a bout of cattle rustling by the Masai in the Athi River area about 20 miles outside Nairobi. Small bands of Masai would cross over from the reserve at night on to certain European farms, knock off the night watchman guarding the cattle boma and drive off several head of cattle back into the Masai reserve.
 At the time, I was an Inspector in the Kenya Police based in Nairobi and was detailed off to go down to Athi River for a few days to look into the matter. I set off with Corporal M'Imanene and two police dogs, Sam and King. Mr. Graham of Ken Plains Farm had kindly offered to accommodate us.
I decided that we would patrol the area between the Athi River railway station and the bridge going over the Athi River (in actual fact it was a dry river bed). We would keep below the railway embankment which was the border between the Masai Reserve and the European farms.
Accordingly, I sent M'Imanene and King down to the bridge, which was the nearer point to the farm while I drove down with Sam to the railway station. M'Imanene and I would then patrol towards each other and meet in the middle, a distance of about five miles, that would take care of the hours from 10 pm to 5 am.
I must admit that it was not a very enjoyable experience stumbling alone across the African bush on a dark night and my heart would miss several beats when I disturbed sleeping herds of zebra and buck and sent them stampeding off in all directions.
To make matters worse, my host Graham had warned me that he knew of at least six lions in the area I would be passing through, so I was not in a very happy frame of mind and was quite thankful when I linked up, after a couple of hours, with Corporal M'Imanene.
We walked back to the station and drove to the farm and the welcome safety of our beds. M'Imanene and I carried out these patrols for several nights without laying eyes on a Masai warrior or falling over any sleeping lions -- much to my relief!
One morning before leaving the farm to return to Nairobi I teamed up, at about 7 am, with the European Inspector in charge of Athi River Police Station and half a dozen of his askaris, to go on a patrol into the Masai Reserve to see what we could find.
Approaching the dry river bed under the Athi bridge we were suddenly confronted with a huge lion which appeared out of the long grass about 25 yards in front of us.
To a man we froze in mid-stride.
The lion just stood, looking slowly at each of us in turn and as I had more meat on me than any of the other seven chaps I had the uncomfortable feeling that he gazed at me the longest and I'm almost sure he licked his lips.
However, after what seemed an eternity, he turned about and slowly walked away turning his head every few steps to see what we were up to. Unfortunately the lion had wandered off in the same direction as we intended to go.
After giving the wretched animal half an hour start we proceeded very cautiously with our patrol -- more alert for the lion than for the Masai cattle rustlers. After a few fruitless hours we returned to the farm, said our good-byes and headed back to Nairobi.
I should mention one incident which occurred whilst at the farm. The Grahams had caught or rescued the odd buck, zebra and young giraffe and placed them in pens to await collection by a representative of a zoo. They also had a half grown leopard which was friendly with Mrs. Graham, who would enter the pen to feed it.
The leopard wore a leather collar to which was attached a long running chain and was enclosed in a pen, the fourth side of which was the farmhouse wall. In this wall was the outside door of a large bedroom.
To get from my bedroom to the bathroom I had to pass through the large bedroom with the door leading to the leopard's pen. The first morning there I gathered up my toilet things and wandered into the bedroom en route to the bathroom.
I noticed that the outside door was wide open but never gave it a thought as I had completely forgotten about the leopard. As I drew level with the open door there was the rattling of a chain and to my horror through the door came the leopard in full flight straight for me - it was moving very fast and launched itself through the air presumably intent on tearing out my throat.
Although it seemed an age before I could move, my reactions must have been pretty quick. I threw myself backwards, hit the corner of a bed and fell in a heap against the wall on the other side, surrounded by the debris of my toilet equipment.
Fortunately for me the leopard suddenly came to a dead stop in mid flight as it came to the end of its chain and collapsed in a squirming, snarling heap on the floor about eight feet from where I lay. Thereafter I always went to the bathroom by a safe, circuitous route.
Another leopard story took place, once again in Kenya, and I think in the year 1959 -- give or take a year or two. About 40 odd miles outside Nairobi is the Kedlong Valley which is part of the Great Rift Valley. There on a large farm where we used to do a lot of shooting of zebra etc for dog-meat, lived a Danish farm manager.
At the time of this incident he had holidaying with him a student relative from Denmark. One night the farmer shot and wounded a leopard and because of nightfall was unable to follow up and hill it. Therefore the next morning at first light he set off with two African farm hands, to pick up the leopard's spoor and hoped to finish the beast off. The student aged about 18 tagged along with them.
They were walking along a narrow dusty track through country with plenty of scrub and trees in which the leopard could hide. The farmer was leading, followed by the two Africans and the young student bringing up the rear.
At one point the farmer and the Africans passed a track which forked off to the left, the student, glancing casually down this track, saw what he thought might be the pug mark of a leopard but before calling the farmer's attention to it he thought he ought to have a closer look.
He had only taken half a dozen paces down this side track when to his horror he came across the leopard lying under a bush.
The leopard attacked immediately and knocking the student to the ground grabbed him by his throat. The farmer who was only a few yards away rushed up and shot the leopard off the body of the student.
By an amazing piece of luck the leopard's teeth had not touched the jugular vein but had dug into the muscles on either side of the neck. The student was in a bad way, but alive, and was rushed off to hospital.
I met the young chap when he came out of hospital. He had two lovely scars, one each side of his neck, they were both about two inches long. I'm sure he will be offered many a free drink to re-tell his story. There can't be many people walking the streets today who have had a leopard at their throats and lived to tell the tale!
| |  | |  |
To add a comment you must first login or join for free, up in the top left corner.
|
|
