-* The Spell of the Hlelescho 



What in the world is he after ? 



As we draw closer, I am extremely surprised at seeing 

 that the man does not allow himself to be in the least 

 disturbed in his proceedings. Now his bullets begin to 

 whistle unpleasantly near me. I fire in the air, once, 

 twice. . . . Now his attention is attracted, and simul- 

 taneously I perceive a number of dark objects near the 

 marksman. They seem to be his companions, black men, 

 and squatting on the ground. 



From the background there emerge now great numbers 

 of such objects it must be a large caravan. 



The distance between us is diminished so that one can 

 see plainly. . . . Now we can shout to each other. . . . 

 At last I learn that the hunter is marching with his lone 



fj O 



caravan of bearers to the great lake. He has been putting 

 out all his exertions to shoot some wild animals. But 

 although he lias many surprisingly interesting hunting 

 adventures to tell oi as the result of his three months' 

 march from the coast to this point, that task seems to have 

 been beyond his powers ! With a well-aimed shot he has 

 stretched on the ground just one single dwarf gazelle ! ! 



After shaking hands, he bewails the fact that he has 

 a rifle that shoots so badly. He says its system is 

 absolutely worthless, especially against wild animals. 



Our fleeting acquaintance is broken off in a few 

 minutes. He is the first newly arrived European that I 

 have met for a long time, but I have not too much 

 sympathy for this class of sportsmen. So my new 

 acquaintance goes off, still blazing away freely. He has 

 been urged on by my information that his camping and 



39 



