DRIVING GAME BEFORE A PRAIRIE FIRE.
"How my hand trembled as I saw a lion running almost in my direction, and felt certain he would pass near enough to give me a fine shot! I brought my rifle to my shoulder, and just as I was on the point of firing I saw a native rise from the grass directly in line beyond the prize I had marked for my own.
"I allowed the lion to pass, but took a shot at a hartbeest, and brought him to the ground. Some buffaloes turned aside, avoiding the nets, and the natives did not try to stop them. They prefer that buffaloes should give their nets a wide berth, and are not at all pleased to encounter a lion. A rhinoceros passed near where Captain Mohammed was stationed, but too far off for a shot, and he went through the net as a circus-rider passes through a paper hoop.
"I managed to shoot three antelopes and as many hartbeests before the smoke became so thick that it was difficult for me to see. I wondered what I would do when the fire reached me, but did not have any occasion to trouble myself about it. The flames reached the brook and then stopped, and in a little while the smoke blew away, and left the ground all blackened by the fire that had passed over it.
"The hunt was fairly successful, and nobody had any reason to complain, as the natives got enough antelopes to supply them for some time. Captain Mohammed killed six; and these, with what I had shot, were a good addition to our supplies. The chief said the meat belonged to us by right, as the animals would have escaped the net from running so far to one side. Some of the antelopes seemed to understand the business; they had been hunted that way so often that when they reached the bank of the brook and saw the people, they knew the net was on the other side, and did not cross. They turned and ran either down or up the stream, and took the chances of being speared or shot while escaping.
"We had the meat taken to camp after delivering to the owner of the land the quarter which was his right. Instead of taking a fourth of each animal, according to the custom of the country, he accepted one whole antelope out of four, which amounted to exactly the same thing, and saved the trouble of division. We sent to the chief several presents, which were more than the equivalent for the game we secured—at least, they must have been so in his eyes, though in reality their value was very small. There was a large knife, such as you can buy in the shops for half a dollar, and several pieces of jewellery—not made at Tiffany's. He was much pleased with his gifts, and we are convinced that his friendship is secure.
"Many natives came into camp the next day, and sometimes they were so numerous that their visits were a little irksome. We managed to amuse them by getting out a mechanical organ, which was wound up as fast as it ran down, so that we had a steady strain of music through the entire day.
"We had several popular airs played by the organ, and probably it was the first time they were ever heard among the Shoolis. It made no difference what was performed, and the negroes were equally delighted with the grand march from 'Faust,' or Little Buttercup from 'Pinafore.' Several times they formed a circle and danced to the music; they did not keep step with any sort of exactness, and their dancing was little more than an excited whirl. I realized the force of what Stanley and other explorers have said, that a band of music would be better than a company of sharpshooters for escorting a traveller through the greater part of the 'Dark Continent.'