CHAPTER IX 



Hippopotami— Lechwc Antelopes — Difficult Shooting — Elephants on 

 the " Chobe " — A Plucky little Calf— A Canoe Ride — Makubas 

 and their Island — Return to " Pookoo Flats" — 400 lbs. of 

 Ivory. 



On our arrival we found that Mr. Garden was still 

 down at the river, but in a few minutes he returned, 

 with two guinea-fowls that he had just shot. These 

 birds abound all along the river, roosting at nights in 

 large flocks in the trees close to the water's edge, and 

 are, in my opinion, when young, the best eating of 

 all the game birds found in the interior of South 

 Africa. Over a savoury stew of elephant's heart, we 

 recounted to one another our several experiences 

 during the past week. Mr. Garden had had no 

 kick with the elephants ; for, though there were lots 

 of them about, he had been, like myself, much 

 bothered by the currents of wind in the thick bush. 

 Just opposite this camp, on the other side of the river, 

 or rather on an island in the marsh on the other side, 

 for the country seemed flooded in every direction, was 

 a small native town of some six or eight huts. These 

 natives had paid several visits to my friend's camp, 

 and he had been with them in their canoes to shoot 

 hippopotami — which are plentiful in the Chobe — but 

 without success, as they were afraid to paddle near 

 enougrh to these much-dreaded monsters to allow him 

 to shoot with any certainty, for the head of the hippo- 



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