t, and instinctively making a spring
forward, he tried to clear the hollow; but he had no power in his start,
and he only touched the farther side, and then fell with a crash through
the screening brushwood into a deep hole.

He fell so heavily that for the moment he was stunned, and lay there
perfectly helpless, listening to a furious snarling howl, and feeling
the scuffling and twining about of a number of reptiles which his fall
had disturbed.

The Zulu knew well enough where he was, and that he had been unfortunate
enough to leap into one of the many pitfalls some tribes dig in the
woods to capture large game.

He knew exactly how such a pit would be dug, widening out from the top
to the bottom, so that the creatures which fell in would be unable to
escape; and he understood the hideous snarling of some beast, for as he
cautiously rose to a standing position the moonlight showed him, impaled
upon the horribly sharp stake formed by fining down a good-sized tree
and planting it in the bottom, a hideously wolfish-looking hyaena,
which, less fortunate than himself, had fallen upon the sharp spike,
which had gone completely through the wretched animal's body, leaving it
writhing, snarling, and clawing the air with its paws in its vain
efforts to get free.

It was a terrible neighbour to have in such close proximity, and for the
moment the General thought of thrusting it through and killing it out of
its misery; but his assegais had quitted his hand in his fall, and to
have found them again meant to search amidst the broken twigs and bushes
at the bottom of the pit, where he could feel and hear the snakes.

Even as he thought all this he could feel the cold scaly bodies of the
reptiles gliding over his feet, and against his bare legs; and hence he
was obliged to stand perfectly motionless, lest--though he had escaped
when he fell, his sudden dash having alarmed them, no doubt--the
slightest movement of his feet might be followed by a bite, for amongst
so many as he could feel there were, some were certain to be of a deadly
nature.

So there he stood, unarmed, with the serpents gliding about the bottom
of the pit, the moonlight glinting in through the trees, and only a foot
or two from his face that hideous snarling animal, which snapped at him
angrily, evidently looking upon him as being the cause of its
sufferings. Even if he had dared to move it would have been very
doubtful whether the General could have clambe