The Bushmen’s détente with the Kalahari lions, as ancient as it may have been, was still tenuous in the moment, and close encounters would often crackle with a primal electricity. “Beyond our fire were their shining eyes,” wrote Thomas on one occasion, “which were so high above the ground that we thought at first we were seeing donkeys.” The !Kung word for lion—n!i—was used as carefully as a god’s and was seldom uttered in the daytime (why summon the beast when it is safely asleep?). Some individuals appeared to have supernatural relationships with these animals, and it was generally believed
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