HUNTING WITH ASHINGA NETS. 201 
dous smokers, and they seemed to enjoy their pipes so 
much in the evening when the day’s work was over. 
The medicines I had taken with me were quinine, 
laudanum, rhubarb, and a few other articles. I had also a 
bottle of brandy, which I intended to preserve most care- 
fully for a case of need. 
So, after every thing was built, one fine morning we 
ascended the inside steps, hung down our outside ladder, 
and came out. We had with us the Ashinga fets, with 
which we were going to hunt. We spread them in the 
forest in the same manner as I have described to you in 
“Stories of the Gorilla Country ;” but instead of being 
many we were only four people, and we had only four 
Ashingas, yet we were very successful; we trapped two 
charming gazelles, called ncheri; anda nchombi, anoth- 
er beautiful little gazelle of reddish color, and captured 
also a kind of wild-cat, which got entangled, and which 
we had to kill on the spot with the butt-end of our guns, 
I ordered the men not to kill the nchombi and one of 
the ncheri, which we seized and tied with native creep- 
ers and carried to our camp, since I wished to keep them 
_ alive if possible. 
It was a pretty good day’s hunt, considering that we 
had not fired a gun, and that we had not been more 
than three miles from our camp. 
As we approached our fort we gave the signal agreed 
upon, which was three separate whistles, imitating the cry 
of a certain bird called pipzyo. 
Soon the heads of the boys peeped out; they brought 
and fastened the rope-ladder outside, and greeted us 
with a smile which showed ‘their nice filed teeth, and cast 
sly glances at the game which we had brought. 
12 
