hemselves in a circle round it down below, at a sufficient distance
away to enable them to see anything that might happen on the top of the
boulder. But what, I asked myself, could happen up there; why had those
monkeys taken the trouble to construct that fine scherm; and why, in the
name of fortune, were they exerting themselves to create such a terrific
row? The answer was not long in coming; for, as I sat there intently
scanning the scene through my telescope, I saw the head and about six
feet of the body of an enormous python upreared from inside the scherm,
its appearance being greeted by a yell of delight from the monkeys that
caused Prince to snort and stamp with excitement. I saw the huge
reptile up-rear itself still further and attempt to get out of the
scherm; but it could not do so without crawling over the hedge of
thorns, and the moment that its body touched these it recoiled, its
immense jaws gaped open, its tongue flickered in and out, and I could in
imagination hear its angry hisses as plainly as I could hear the howls
of derision and defiance with which the monkeys greeted its appearance.

And then I understood, or believed I understood, the whole thing. The
python, doubtless, had its lair somewhere in the immediate vicinity of
the boulder, the flat top of which was probably its favourite basking
place; the troop of monkeys, perhaps gambolling about on the face of the
adjacent cliff, had chanced to see the huge snake lying asleep upon the
rock, and, instantly seizing the opportunity to take their enemy at a
disadvantage, had, with diabolical ingenuity, hastened to enclose the
creature in a circular fence of thorns, from which it now seemed that it
would find it impossible to escape--for I saw it make several attempts,
at various points around the circumference of the scherm, and upon each
occasion, when it essayed to crawl over the thorns, it shrank back,
baffled by the innumerable sharp points which everywhere met it. At
length, after I had watched its unavailing efforts for about a quarter
of an hour, I cantered up to the rock--putting the monkeys to flight
amid a chorus of angry protests--and, after a careful survey, proceeded
to climb to the top, taking the precaution to carry my rifle with me. I
now found that the scherm, constructed of small branches of formidable
thorns--each thorn being nearly three inches long, and sharp-pointed as
a needle--was about waist high, a yard in thickness, and so