169 
SHOOTING FROM THE “ MELBIDA.” 
until late in the morning and when the moon rose 
late, they drank at a very early hour of the night. 
By this acute system many a grisly lion saved his 
bacon, and is now luxuriating in the forests of South 
Africa, which had otherwise fallen to the barrels of 
my trusty £ Westley Richards.’ 55 
In Northern Africa the lion, according to Gerard, 
is also shot in the night time, and that from the 
„ Melbida , signifying a place of refuge, which he thus 
describes : 
££ It consists,” he says, “ of a hole dug in the 
ground, of some three or four metres in length, by 
one in depth, which hole is covered over with logs 
of wood; and above these, again, are piled the 
earth that has been thrown up in making the ex¬ 
cavation. At the end of the c melbida 5 facing the 
pathway, are five or six loop-holes for guns, and 
at the other end is a small aperture to admit the 
chasseurs, which is afterwards closed by a large 
stone. As it would be difficult to take aim at the lion 
when merely passing the c melbida,’ the Arabs are 
accustomed to place a hog, slaughtered for the pur¬ 
pose, in the pathway in front of the loopholes, and 
when the beast halts to smell at the carcass, the 
men fire simultaneously. 
££ It is seldom the lion is killed outright; most 
commonly, he, on receiving the balls, bounds in 
the direction of, and over the £ melbida,’ little sus¬ 
pecting that the enemy he seeks lies concealed be¬ 
neath his feet. Afterwards, and when his strength 
is exhausted by ferocious bounds on all sides, he 
makes for the nearest thicket.” 
