554 Great and Small Game of Africa 



It is absolutely necessary to make yourself comfortable before the lions 

 arrive, as that is the moment when excitement is apt to make you feel 

 uncomfortable. Having sat in a scherm one night for three lions, which 

 winded me and decamped, I tried a tree next night, and, just as they came, 

 endeavoured to shift myself from a cramped position, when the stage gave 

 way and I fell to the ground, nearly 12 feet. The attendant who was with 

 me succeeded in holding on to a branch. The lions growled ominously, 

 but in the silence that followed they cleared out. The best plan, after all, 

 for night-watching is to place the bait in a shallow creek and make a 

 shelter of branches on the bank, 20 feet from the bait, below wind — the 

 bait must have been previously dragged in such a way that lions coming 

 along the drag will be seen, at any rate a few moments before they reach 

 the carcase. If you are dealing with their own kill, you will note the 

 direction of their departing spoor, and build your scherm accordingly, 

 remembering that they are nearly sure to return along the same track; or a 

 shooting hole can be made, covered in with logs and thorn branches. It should 

 be $\ feet long, 4 feet wide, and 3 feet to 4 feet deep, and a hole must be 

 left to shoot through. I have nearly been hooked out of one of these by 

 a lion, owing to the hole being too narrow to admit of my turning, and 

 partly to my somnolent condition, so I do not very strongly recommend 

 the plan. Moonlight should be chosen for night-watching, otherwise it 

 is very difficult to make out a lion even when only six or eight paces 

 distant. Blue -lights are often useful ; in my previous work I have 

 dealt exhaustively with this subject. It does not pay to have a boy with 

 you ; they will sleep, and inevitably snore. When the lions come, be quite 

 ready, but do not f re hurriedly. I prefer to let them feed for an hour. It is 

 most interesting to watch them by moonlight. But when you do fire, aim 

 low ; one is very apt to overshoot at night. Do not leave the scherm if one is 

 shot, for the others, if there was a party, are quite likely to return. Always 

 be prepared against the rush of a wounded beast. I have been through 



