BEYOND THE HILLS 251 



one afternoon, while the boys were completing the 

 work on one of these camera-hiding places, I strolled 

 across the veldt with my gun bearer and a toto, shoot- 

 ing a nice fat zebra for the boys, and collecting two 

 young wart hogs, one goose, one duck, one yellow- 

 legged partridge, two emperor peirtridges, and twenty- 

 two sand grouse for our own larder. 



The camp was astir next morning just before the 

 sun peeked over the edge of the Serengetti plains, for 

 it is necessary to get into blinds while it is still dark. 

 Three of us spent the entire day in bomas without 

 much success, the net result of our combined efforts 

 being a ten-foot scene of one lone tommie whose thirst 

 overbalanced his fear, and a view of two golden-crested 

 cranes that came down to drink. 



Several days were spent in these bUnds with varying 

 success. On one occasion Jones reported that, as the 

 animals seemed to avoid the place, he circled around 

 the boma to see if he could discover the cause, and 

 had found a big male lion peacefully reposing 

 beneath a near-by tree. This explained tilings to liis 

 entire satisfaction but failed to improve his nerves. 



Ted had gone to the mine for drinking water, with 

 instructions to return for us before dark. When the 

 shadows began to deepen, Jones and I moved our 

 tilings out into the open plain to await liis belated 

 arrival. Darkness came down black as ink and 

 strange noises began to fill the air, while dim shapes 

 prowled around among the bushes and in the grass. 

 About this time we thought of making a fire and 

 Jones produced four matches, all of which went out. 

 The shapes moved closer. A lion grunted; Jones 

 made another frantic search, finding two more matches. 



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