Novel Hyaena Trap 



the one hand at Fontesvilla, on the other at 

 Chimoio, one hundred and twenty miles off. 

 Each mile of this railway, the gauge of which, 

 when I passed over it, was but two-feet-four, 

 was marked by a wooden post which was known 

 locally as a " peg " ; thus the railway officials 

 spoke of the seven-mile peg, seventeen-mile peg, 

 and so on, to represent the distance from Fontes- 

 villa. For the first forty miles the track is laid 

 through a very flat country ; here game could 

 be seen in any quantity on both sides of the 

 line, the commonest species being quagga, blue 

 wildebeest, hartebeest, sassaby, bushbuck, and 

 sometimes buffalo, lion, and, more rarely, ele- 

 phants. Lions were extremely plentiful on this 

 large plain, which was not to be wondered at, 

 seeing that there was so much game for them to 

 prey on. Whilst on the subject of lions, I may 

 mention that on my return journey two months 

 later to Fontesvilla I met at this place a Mr. 

 Lamb, who went up the following morning 

 after my arrival to forty-mile peg to try and 

 shoot some buffalo. At or near the seventeen- 

 mile peg he saw twelve lions cross the railway 

 track in front of the train ! He had his rifle 

 with him, and shot at several of them, wounding 

 one lioness, which, however, he failed to bag. 



The country now had most of the long grass 

 burned off it, so that it was possible to see what 

 game there was in the district. The young grass 



G 81 



