rendezvous at a particular tree, corroborates what has been asserted
by other writers. He says: "Arrived at the spot the bullocks were
soon relieved of their burden, and then work commenced. The nooses
were of the same kind as those used for snaring antelope, made from
the dried sinews of the antelope. These were pegged down in all
directions, and at all angles, to a distance of 25 to 30 feet from
the tree. The carts and bullocks were sent off into a road about a
mile away. An ambush was made of bushes and branches some fifty or
sixty yards away, and here, when the time came, I and three Vardis
ensconced ourselves. I have sat near some dirty fellows in my life,
but the stench of those three men baffles description; you could cut
it with a knife. I could not smoke, so had to put up with the several
smells until I was nearly sick. At last the sun commenced to sink,
and the men who were looking round in all directions, suddenly
pointed in the direction of the north. Sure enough there were four
cheetahs skying away and playing together about 400 yards off; they
came closer and closer, when they stopped about 100 yards off,
looking about as if they suspected danger. However, they became
reassured, and all raced away as hard as they could in the direction
of the tree. Two were large and the other two smaller; the larger
had the best of the race, and were entangled by all four feet before
they knew where they were. The Vardis made a rush. I did the same,
but in a second was flat on the ground, having caught my feet in the
nooses. One of the men came and released me from my undignified
position, and I could then see how the cheetahs were secured. A
country blanket was thrown over the heads of the animal, and the two
fore or hind legs tied together. The carts had come up by this time;
a leather hood was substituted for the blanket--a rather ticklish
operation, during which one man was badly bitten in the hand. The
cheetahs know how to use their teeth and claws. Having been securely
fastened on the carts, and the nooses collected, we started for camp,
which we reached about eight in the evening. I was much pleased with
what I had seen and learnt, but it took me a long time to get the
smell of the Vardis out of my head. The next morning I went to see
the cheetahs and found that they had been tied spread-eagle fashion
on the carts, and with their hoods firmly tied. They were a pair,
and in all probability the parents of the two sma