METHODS OF LION HUNTING 
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a view of the hartebeest and waited patiently for 
an obliging lion to come and be shot. 
Night came on and soon the landscape became 
shadowy and indistinct. Trees and bushes fused 
into vague black masses and the carcass of the bait 
could be located only because it seemed a shade 
more opaque than the opaque gloom around it. The 
more you looked at it the more elusive and shifting 
it seemed. The sights of the rifle were invisible, 
and the only way one could find the sight was by 
aiming at a star and then carefully lowering the 
direction of the weapon until it approximately 
pointed at the carcass. 
Of course, we were very still; even the stars were 
not more silent than we. And little by little the 
noises of an African night were heard, growing in 
volume until from all sides came the cries of night 
birds and the songs of insects and tree-toads. It 
was the apotheosis of loneliness. And thus we sat, 
with eyes straining to pierce the gloom that hedged 
us in. We could see no sign of life, yet all about us 
in those dark shadows there were thousands of crea¬ 
tures moving about on their nightly hunt. 
Suddenly there came the soft crescendo of a 
hyena’s howl some place off in the night. It was 
answered by another, miles away; then another, far 
off in a still different direction. The scent of the 
bait was spreading to the far horizon and the keen- 
scented carrion-eaters had caught it and were hurry¬ 
ing to the feast. 
Then, after moments of waiting, the howls came 
