130 



A WATER-HOOPOO. 



READERS of African travel and adventures will 

 remember the descriptions given of the method 

 adopted by the natives in the capture of game 

 on a large scale in Central and South Africa. The 

 scene of the hunt is carefully selected in some 

 locality where game abounds, care being taken 

 that the natural conformation of the ground shall 

 assist in the object of the hunt. A V-shaped 

 stockade is then erected, each leg of which ex- 

 tends perhaps for a mile. The entrance of the 

 stockade is also about a mile wide. Near the 

 apex of the V the stockade is made very strong 

 to resist the attacks of the animals driven into it. 

 At the apex is a small opening, and immediately 

 beyond this an enormous pit is dug, some fifteen 

 feet deep and fifty feet square, with perpendicular 

 sides. 



When a beat is arranged the inhabitants of the 

 neighbouring villages assemble, and men, women, 

 and children assist in driving the country for miles 

 towards the entrance of the hoopoo, as the trap 

 is called. This may take some days, and is slowly 

 and cautiously conducted, in order to prevent 

 the game becoming alarmed and breaking through 



