HUNTING IN THE MOUNTAINS 



piece of wood or a block of stone, which, when the 

 trap is sprung falls, guided by the cord, on to the 

 animal, breaking its back. 



The other kind of trap for small antelopes is a pit, 

 varying according to the size of the game to be taken. 

 Like the nooses, these pits are placed in paths fre- 

 quented by the animals, barriers of thorns being 

 cleverly arranged so as to prevent the animal from 

 wandering off the track. The opening of the pit is 

 skilfully hidden by light boughs covered with grass 

 and sand. Sometimes the bottom of these pits is 

 furnished with a long spear of hard wood on which 

 the animal is hurled by its fall, and violently impaled. 



The bushbuck has also to reckon with the battues 

 which the Kafirs generally organise when they burn 

 the grass. The population of several villages, divided 

 into two parties, guard the sides of a valley ; at the 

 windward end they set light to the scrub, while at 

 the other end is stretched a large net into which the 

 maddened game rush and are killed. 



The bushbuck is also tracked by other foes. At 

 the time when it cautiously emerges from its retreat 

 in order to feed, a heavy weight may fall on its withers, 

 powerful teeth be implanted in its neck, tearing the 

 jugular vein and carotid artery, and throwing it 

 panting on the ground, the unhappy victim of the 

 leopard. Or it may be clasped by a living lasso, 

 rapid, cold, and powerful, which crushes it in its 

 strong embrace : this is when it has become the prey 



(9) 



