It is
difficult to prevent the covers of pitfalls becoming hollow: the only way
is to build the roofs in somewhat of an arch, so as to allow for
subsidence. If a herd of animals be driven over pitfalls, some are sure
to be pushed in, as the crush makes it impossible for the beasts, however
wary, to pick their way.
Uganda Thorn-wreath.--Captain Grant found a very ingenious contrivance
in use in Uganda, in Africa. Two small Stout hoops of equal diameter,
made of wood fully an inch in thickness, were lashed one above the other;
long acacia thorns were interposed, forming the spokes of a wheel of
which the hoops formed the rim. The bases of the thorns were nipped
between the hoops; and their points radiated towards the centre. A great
many thorns were used, so that the appearance was that of a wheel without
a nave, whose spokes were so close together that they touched each other,
and, as thorns taper from base to point, the spokes touched one another
along their whole length, from circumference to centre. This apparatus is
always made with great neatness. It is laid over a hole 18 inches deep,
dug in the beast's path, and the noose of a cord, of which the other end
is secured to a log, is laid closely within the upper hoop. When the
beast treads on the apparatus, he crashes through the thorns, but, on
withdrawing his foot from the hole, the wreath clings to his fetlock like
a ruff, and prevents the noose from slipping off.
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