HUNTING AND VISITING lOQ 



specimens. Gigi was not feeling well and was following us 

 only by force of will, dragging his legs as he went. He had a 

 temperature and was feeling weaker every hour. These were 

 the first signs of what later turned out to be a serious infection. 

 When we sighted the gazelle, the third that day, Gigi did 

 not have the strength to follow me in the chase. The sun came 

 out unexpectedly from the haze, scorching an atmosphere 

 which was already unbreathable, because of the stagnant 

 humidity. It was the last straw. Gigi dropped down dejectedly 

 and asked for something to drink. The gazelle became a white 

 spot on the distant plain. I gave Gigi all the water that was 

 left and when I saw that he was brighter I sent him back 

 home with Tesfankièl. 



I remained alone and continued the hunt. 



I walked for half an hour and saw the gazelle under the 

 open umbrella of an acacia. But he saw me too and flew off 

 again. I studied my position carefully, chose a direction, 

 followed this for twenty minutes and came out on a shelf of 

 the peninsula in front of the sea. Fifty yards away two gazelles 

 dashed off like greased lightning. I fired. But the gazelles 

 had disappeared and only clouds of dust trailed behind them 

 towards the peak of the peninsula. 



But I wouldn't be beaten. I caught sight of the big male 

 who was evidently in search of his mate. I set off again. I 

 pushed on for half an hour or more. The sun beat down 

 mercilessly, yellow and horrible. I took out my handkerchief 

 and knotted it round my head. After a while I took off my 

 shirt, squeezed the sweat out of it and put it round my waist. 

 After another hundred yards I took my trousers off, made a 

 bundle of my things, put this on an acacia tree that would 

 be on my road back and was ready to carry on naked. My 

 tongue was swollen with thirst and my eyes stuck together 

 with fatigue. At a certain point I felt I could not go on, so 



H 



