264 



A Breath from the Veldt 



from our very fireplace. This was all most irritating, and as the day wore on 

 they became more openly aggressive, attempting to steal things off the waggon. 

 Affairs were beginning to look disagreeable when N'Dale turned up, and I had 

 another long and shilly-shallying " powwow " of the usual type. He now said 

 he could not let me go away until his brother M'Male came from over the hills, 

 as part of the Veldt belonged to him. This, of course, meant another delay and 

 more blackmail. But there was no help for it. I could not start for at least 

 two days, by reason of the poor condition of the donkeys, and N'Dale would not 

 promise me any bearers ; we wanted moreover to have our revenge on the lion, 

 and so perhaps to gain some little prestige that might help us in dealing with 

 our tormentors. 



During the afternoon we beat all the bush alongside the mountain where 

 we thought the lion might be lying up ; but without success. We then 

 decided that I should sit over one carcase, and we should make a " still " over 

 the other one, which we had dragged under some suitable trees near the camp. 

 A " still," I may say, is formed by two rifles fixed to trees or posts guarding 

 the entrance to a " kill." A fine cord connected with the triggers is stretched 

 across the entrance, and the chances are that a visitor approaching the bait will 

 receive both bullets in the right place if the line is set at the correct height 

 from the ground, which in the case of a lion is about a foot above a man's knee 

 joint. In the wilds of South Africa every hunter is more or less obliged to 

 employ this means of destroying lions in districts where they are particularly 

 numerous and objectionable ; if only for the protection of such oxen or donkeys 

 as he may have with him. Being in reality the worst and most dangerous 

 of vermin, they have to be exterminated by any means, fair or foul, for they 

 are so seldom seen during the day that the chances of shooting them in sports- 

 manlike fashion are rare, and the mischief one strong and bold lion will do in a 

 year, once he takes to the waggon and kraal business, is very great. 



By sundown all was ready for His Majesty in case he should pay us a visit. 

 One carcase had been most artistically prepared for his reception, whilst over 

 the other I sat shivering up a tree. The night was so bitterly cold and 

 intensely dark that by eleven o'clock I decided to relinquish my post ; for, 

 should the lion come below me, I could not make sure of killing him, as I 

 could not even see the end of my rifle, and the only bough I could find to 

 perch on was ten yards from the ground. So Prince and Office came to me 

 with great firebrands, and we dragged the carcase of the donkey up within 

 sight of the fire, hoping that the lion would visit either me or the " still." 



