Veldt Fire 



unhappy and suffering existence. So I gave chase, 

 and the trail being good, it meant going at a trot, 

 as each moment the sun was threatening to drop 

 behind the scenes. But running in the tropics 

 requires an athletic heart, and several times I had 

 to pause for breath. However, determination and 

 excitement are two great incentives, and my per- 

 severance was eventually rewarded. I caught sight 

 of the buck across a burnt patch of grass. I had 

 evidently hit him somewhere in the hind leg, and 

 he, thinking himself secure from further pursuit, 

 was resting before making another forward rush. I 

 made sure of him this time, and he fell down within 

 an ace of where he had been standing. 



Leaving instructions that the meat was to be 

 brought into camp as soon as possible, I returned, 

 but by the time I had arrived darkness had 

 fallen and helped to show up to great effect a 

 veldt fire, which looked as brilliant as the lights 

 of Piccadilly Circus, and made a brave show against 

 the inky blackness. Unfortunately, it formed a 

 circle around my camp, which it threatened to 

 entirely engulf I turned out all the porters and 

 commenced hurriedly to form a clearing as a 

 shield of protection. We were only just in time, 

 and breathing became a matter of no small diffi- 

 culty, as the piles of heavy smoke suffocated us. 

 I rarely spent such an unpleasant evening, though 

 the spectacle was singularly striking, and the glow 

 seemed to set the whole sky alight, and thus saved 

 me the expense of burning my own oil. 



125 



