ROUNDING-UP 



BOMA AND ZEBRA-KILL FROM WHICH EIGHT LIONS WERE KILLED 



shooting which we employed there namely, boma shooting, 

 at which Outram excels. 



A short description of a boma might interest you, as I 

 judge you had none of this kind of shooting. A boma con- 

 sists of a circlet of thick branches cut from surrounding trees, 

 the center of which is large enough to hold a white man and 

 his gun-bearer. It is usually between five and six feet high. 

 Its purpose is to serve as a means of concealment, but I 

 doubt if it would be much of a protection should the lions 

 try to get in. About fifteen feet from this boma a bait, 

 usually a dead zebra, is placed. This bait, before being put 

 by the boma, has been dragged perhaps five or six miles in 

 order to lay a scent to attract lions. Fresh bait does not 

 seem to attract lions or other animals, but our experience 

 showed that the "higher" the bait became the greater attrac- 

 tion it had for animals. Hardly a night in a boma failed to 

 produce something of interest. It might be a pack of wild 

 dogs yelping by at full tilt, chasing game, the indescribable 

 whir of a leopard, the midnight supper of hyenas and jackals, 

 or the visit of lions. An opening is made in the boma, through 

 which to shoot in the direction of the zebra. I say "in the 



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