IMPRISONED BY A COBRA 225 



tunity to secure rare photographs of the great 

 birds, one of the nature photographers killed a 

 hartebeest and had^his porters carry it to the 

 foot of a rocky ridge. 



"I found a place where an oval-shaped slab 

 of rock rested on and overhung a great boulder," 

 he said. "By draping the green canvas ground- 

 cloth of my tent over this rock and securing the 

 lower corners to the ground, I made a sort of 

 blind behind which I could hide. A few leafy 

 branches placed against the canvas gave the 

 structure a more natural appearance. 



"Everything in readiness, I had my men put 

 the body of the hartebeest within fifty feet of 

 the blind, and then I sent them back to camp. 

 Crawling into the blind, I focussed my camera 

 upon the body through a slit cut in the canvas. 

 Although the vultures, storks, and eagles were 

 already beginning to gather in the air, I knew 

 that probably it would be some time before they 

 would congregate in sufficient numbers to suit 

 my purpose. 



"I fear that I was somewhat greedy in my 

 ambition. I did not care for a photograph of 

 two or three birds; what I wanted was a group 

 of fifty or more tearing away at the carcass 



