212 THROUGH UNKNOWN AFRICAN COUNTRIES. 
It was not at all an equivalent for the present I had sent 
the King. However, I decided the next day to march, as 
we had now spent nearly five days at Argassa, and the 
King had promised to provide us with food while in his 
country. We followed along the western edge of a high 
range of mountains, running nearly north and south, pass- 
ing a pond full of water, from which we had our barrels 
filled, and camping finally in a very bushy place, after 
having made about thirteen miles. 
I saw a good many ostriches on this march, and man- 
aged to stalk one to within forty yards. As I put my 
rifle up I felt all my hunting-spirit come back to me. I 
had never got so close to one of these birds before, 
although I had seen them many times in the distance. 
Scarcely had I fired when I saw the handsome bird flut- 
tering on the ground. I was just about to give a shout 
to Dodson, when, to my surprise, a second ostrich ran from 
behind a bush only a few yards away, affording me an 
easy shot. This bird I also bagged, and a fine ostrich it 
was, in almost as good feather as the first one I had killed. 
It was a great piece of luck to get two of these birds at 
once,—the most difficult of all game to approach. The 
next morning we continued our march north, through a 
most beautiful valley. About twelve miles to our west 
rose a most splendid range of lofty mountains, called the 
Tertala Mountains, which extended all the way to Lake 
Stephanie; and running parallel with this, and just cast of 
our line of march, was another group of mountains, called 
Elwayi. 
The country looked very threatening to our progress 
toward the north. We could make out mountain upon 
mountain, rising higher and higher in the distance, till 
they seemed to pierce the clouds. There were many Bur- 
chell’s zebras, Coke’s hartebeests, and giraffes in the valley. 
