248 AFRICAN CAMP FIRES. 



or a pound in push would land Mr. Monkey in the 

 water. And the joke of it was that directly 

 beneath that bush lay two hungry-looking croco- 

 diles ! As each tiny body hurtled through the 

 air I'll swear a look of hope came into the eyes 

 of those crocs. We watched until the last had 

 made his leap. There were no mistakes. The 

 joke was against the crocodiles. 



We encountered quite a number of dog-faced 

 baboons. These big apes always retreated very 

 slowly and noisily. Scouts in the rearguard 

 were continually ascending small trees or bushes 

 for a better look at us, then leaping down to 

 make disparaging remarks. One lot seemed to 

 show such variation in colour from the usual 

 that we shot one. The distance was about two 

 hundred and fifty yards. Immediately the whole 

 band a hundred or so strong dropped on all 

 fours and started in our direction. This was 

 rather terrifying. However, as we stood firm, 

 they slowly came to a halt at about seventy 

 yards, barked and chattered for a moment, then 

 hopped away to right and left. 



