CH. VII] A FIVE DAYS BAG 167 



bronze figures into lurid relief against the darkness, the 

 likeness was striking, not to the West Coast negroes, 

 but to the engravings on the tombs, temples, and 

 palaees of ancient Egypt ; they might have been 

 soldiers in the armies of Thothmes or Rameses. They 

 stood resting on their long staffs, and looked at me as 

 I leaned on my rifle ; and they lauglied and jested with 

 their women, who felt the lion's teeth and claws and 

 lauglied back at the men. Our gim-bearers worked at 

 the skinning, and answered the jests of their warlike 

 friends with the freedom of men who themselves followed 

 a dangerous trade. The two horses stood quiet just 

 outside the circle ; and over all the firelight played and 

 leaped. 



It was after ten when we reached camp, and I enjoyed 

 a hot bath and a shave before sitting do^vn to a supper 

 of eland venison and broiled spurfowl ; and surely no 

 supper ever tasted more delicious. 



Next day w^e broke camp. My bag for the five days 

 illustrates ordinary African shooting in this part of the 

 continent. Of course, I could have killed many other 

 things ; but I shot nothing that w^as not absolutely 

 needed, eitlier for scientific purposes or for food. The 

 skin of every animal I shot was preserved for the 

 National Museum. The bag included fourteen animals, 

 of ten different species : one lioness, one hyena, one 

 wart-hog boar, two zebra, two eland, one wildebeest, 

 two topi, two impalla, one Roberts' gazelle, one 

 Thomson's gazelle. Except the lioness and one impalla 

 (both of which I shot running), all were shot at rather 

 long ranges ; seven were shot standing, two walking, 

 five running. The average distance at which they w^ere 

 shot was a little over two hundred and twenty yards. 

 I used sixty-five cartridges —an amount which will seem 



