286 LION-HUNTING AND LIONS 



a mile and a half across, and every man went to his 

 station on each side of the net, hidden by the long grass, 

 tied together at the top. By the rules of the chase all 

 the beasts killed before each twelve yards of net belonged 

 to the owner of the netting, who had to pay the tribute of 

 a hind leg from every animal to the man on whose 

 ground the hunt happened to be. 



When all was ready a whistle, taken up and repeated 

 for two miles down the line, gave the signal. The men 

 touched with their fire sticks the dry grass, and soon 

 little columns of smoke were seen rising into the air. 

 Not a native was in sight, and Baker, who was stand- 

 ing beside a tall ant-hill, concealed himself as well as he 

 could. 



A fresh breeze was blowing, and the fire spread 

 rapidly with a loud roar, and the Englishmen began to 

 look to their guns. A huge rhinoceros made its appearance 

 first, but turned off to the right, and no more was seen of 

 him. After that the rush became thick and fast : leopards, 

 antelopes, hartebeests, dashed wildly along, followed 

 closely by a lion and lioness, far too frightened them- 

 selves to think of attacking the antelopes, who, on their 

 part, gave no heed to them. Baker aimed at the head of 

 the lion, but before he could shoot a woolly black head 

 bobbed up between him and his prey. He had forgotten 

 the natives lying in the grass near the nets, and the lion 

 swept by and bounded over the stream, and no more was 

 heard of him ! 



Bad though the fire was for the animals, things were 

 not much better for the Englishmen, who were nearly 

 blinded by the smoke, and fired wildly in the hopes 

 of killing something. At length the flames reached the 

 shore and at once died down, and when the smoke had 

 a little blown away they all came out from their hiding 

 places to count the spoil. Antelopes had suffered the 

 most, and enough of them had been killed to supply 

 the people for many days. Buffaloes had been seen, 



