lions

(Verse 1) In eighteen hundred ninety-eight, the Crown made a decree to build a path of iron from the mountains to the sea. The “Lunatic Express,” they called the rail to Uganda’s shore, A costly dream of empire, through a land unknown for w*r. John Patterson, the engineer, arrived in mid-March to bridge the Tsavo River, where the trouble began. (Chorus 1) Oh, the nights grew long where the Tsavo waters flow, And a shadow walked the riverbank, a fear the workers know. Not the Maasai spears, nor the floods rose high, but two maneless, silent phantoms ‘neath the wide African sky. (Verse 2 ) They built the camp with thorn defences, a boma strong and tall, but the beasts just leapt over, or they broke straight through the wall. The workers, mostly Indian coolies, vanished in the night, dragged from their canvas shelters in the fading light. They’d hear the roar, the sudden scream, the silence after that, then only tracks in dusty sand where hungry lions sat. (Chorus) Oh, the nights grew long where the Tsavo waters flow, And a shadow walked the riverbank, a fear the workers know. Not the local Maasai spears, nor the floods that rose high, but two maneless, silent phantoms ‘neath the wide African sky. (Bridge ) The project halted, work ceased d**d; the men began to flee, Accusing Patterson of bringing a curse for all to see. He made a solemn promise that he would pursue. He set his traps and waited for the two. One lion had a broken tooth, another a wounded jaw, Injuries that forced them to break nature’s sacred law. (Verse 3 ) Through months of fear and failed attempts, he kept his lonely watch until one December evening, when he saw a fleeting patch. He fired his rifle, struck the beast, and ended one beast’s reign, Then tracked and killed the second one to ease the pain. One hundred thirty-five souls lost, by some accounts they say, A brutal, bloody chapter on the British Empire’s way, (Outro Chorus) Now the bridge is built where Tsavo waters flow, but the legend of the man-eaters is still the tale they know. You can see their dusty forms in a museum far from here. A chilling, true-life story of the price of human fear.