INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. ix 



his numerous and half-starved followers, no game was then to 

 be found at that place. 



During his stay there Andersson made disagreeable acquaint- 

 ance with one of the deep pit-falls dug by the natives for the 

 capture of large game, into which he and his horse tumbled 

 headlong, but from which, happily, both rider and steed extri- 

 cated themselves without very serious injury. 



In consequence of the information Andersson received from 

 the Damaras as to the difficulty of proceeding further with 

 waggons, he left these vehicles at Tunobis and proceeded on his 

 journey to the eastward with pack- and saddle-oxen. The supply 

 of game now became abundant. At Kobis, one of the nearest 

 stations to Ngami, Andersson had, he himself tells us, his 

 surfeit of shooting. On this and many other occasions he 

 adopted a system of hunting that in South-west Africa, during 

 the dry season, is especially successful, namely, to lie in 

 ambush at night near to some pool. During the daytime the 

 larger animals are dispersed over a wide tract of country, some- 

 times of many miles in extent ; but at night they resort to the 

 water to quench their thirst ; and if at such times the hunter 

 knows his business he has the opportunity of obtaining much 

 large game. These night hunts, however, are attended with 

 greater peril than those by day. Andersson was accustomed to 

 ensconce himself in a so-called skarm or screen — that is, a small 

 circular enclosure six or eight feet in diameter, the walls usually 

 consisting of loose stones, being about two feet in height ; but 

 this afforded him scarcely any protection, and he must besides, 

 if he would count on a sure shot, allow the beast to approach to 

 within a few paces before firing. We believe that the hunter 

 is never so unprotected against savage animals as in such 

 nocturnal combats. Andersson, indeed, on the first night of 

 his stay at Kobis, was on three several occasions in imminent 

 peril of his life. First came an elephant without his being 

 aware of its approach, and with loAvered trunk stood directly 



