WE SET FIRE TO THE JUNGLE. 191 



upon gaining the opposite bank he was glad to find that 

 the hunter was no longer the hunted. After administer- 

 ing a severe lecture to Mohamed they retraced their 

 footsteps, but the lion was nowhere to be found. On 

 Mohamed's return he reported having seen pools of 

 blood in the direction taken by the lion I fired at yester- 

 day, and as Essafi believed that both Vivian's and mine 

 might be found dead in the jungle we decided upon re- 

 turning there and setting it on fire. 



Thanks to a light breeze, the flames spread with 

 marvellous rapidity, and a magnificent spectacle was the 

 result. Dense volumes of smoke, due to the less combus- 

 tible nature of the green trees, made a splendid back- 

 ground, and against this stood out grandly the brilliant 

 plumage of the birds as they flew backwards and forwards 

 in front of the advancing flames, and apparently in dan- 

 gerous proximity with them. No roast lion could, how- 

 ever, be found, and when we left the scene of devastation 

 the flames were still travelling onward, though not in one 

 unbroken line ; and it was curious to observe how here 

 and there over the charred ground small patches of 

 jungle were left untouched which a spark would have 

 ignited. I omitted to mention that Albert very nearly 

 succeeded in consigning all our property to the flames 

 last evening. We had told him to light a bonfire near 

 the camp to guide us on our return in the dark, and so 

 successfully did he carry out our orders that he also acci- 



