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LION-HUNTING AND LIONS 



In the country of the Shoolis. which is one of the districts 

 drained by the rivers that flow into the Nile, hunting is 

 carried on under very strict rules. In most savage places 

 men go and kill what beasts they like when they are 

 hungry, but among the Shoolis this was not allowed, and 

 everything was arranged by a grand council of the 

 villagers, presided over by the chief. 



Sometimes, when all was settled, the chief would give 

 a party before the hunt, and as many as a thousand 

 guests would arrive from the villages round, clad in their 

 smartest ostrich feathers and best leopard-skin cloaks. 

 Then they would dine off freshly killed oxen, and after- 

 wards a sorcerer would work them spells, first to preserve 

 them from accidents, and then to bring them plenty of 

 game. 



So, when Baker's people began to want fresh meat, he 

 arranged with the chiefs of the tribe for a hunt, and this 

 was how they set about it. 



On the day appointed some thousands of people — men, 

 women, and even babies — assembled at the place of meet- 

 ing, each man carrying a net twelve yards long and eleven 

 feet high, the boys bearing lances, suited to their sizes. 



They marched several miles, and as they went along 

 other natives would silently join in, till the company 

 reached a wide treeless grass country, broken up by 

 many streams. Here the nets were set up in a line about 



