182 DAYS AND NIGHTS BY THE DESERT. 



In a moment I comprehended how the accident 

 had taken place, for Jansey often, on my last trip, 

 accompanied me when I set a bottle to kill the 

 " hyaena vermins ; " but I had warned him, not once, 

 but a dozen times, never to attempt this mode of 

 destruction himself, or an accident was certain to 

 happen. But my caution had evidently been dis- 

 regarded, and, as a result, a good servant and 

 capital hunter had been added to the vast majority. 

 As my readers may not understand what is meant 

 by setting a bottle, I will explain. 



Take an ordinary bottle and fill it with powder, 

 then bury it underneath where the bait is to be 

 suspended. The cork is now placed in it, which 

 has been bored lengthways and sheeted with sand- 

 paper in such a way that a lucifer match can be 

 drawn up through it. While the further arrange- 

 ments are being made, the string which passes 

 through the cork to the match should be wound 

 round the neck of the bottle. The bait, a piece of 

 raw meat, having been attached to the string by 

 the aid of another line, is gently lowered from a 

 distance till it remains suspended a few feet over 

 the bottle, the string round the bottle's neck dis- 

 engaging itself to permit the bait to descend very 

 gradually. Thus it will be understood that if the 

 bait is dragged at, the match passes up between the 

 sandpaper, and an explosion immediately ensues. It 

 is a dangerous device, almost as much so to the 



