336 AFRICAN CAMP FIRES. 



ox-wagon for the purpose of bringing back more 

 supplies. They returned the next afternoon, 

 bringing also a report from C. that all was well so 

 far, and that he had seen a lion. He made the 

 desert trip without other casualty than the loss 

 of his riding mule, and landed the wounded man 

 in the hospital all right. In spite of C.'s expert 

 care on the journey out, and the best of treat- 

 ment later, the boy, to my great distress, died 

 eleven days after reaching the hospital. C. was 

 gone just two weeks. 



In the meantime I sent out my best trackers 

 in all directions to look for kudu signs, con- 

 ceiving this the best method of covering the 

 country rapidly. In this manner I shortly 

 determined that chances were small here, and 

 made up my mind to move down to the edge 

 of the bench where the Narossara makes its 

 plunge. Before doing so, however, I hunted 

 for and killed a very large eland bull reported 

 by Mavrouki. This beast was not only one of 

 the largest I ever saw, but was in especially fine 

 coat. He stood five feet six inches high at 

 the shoulder ; was nine feet eight inches long, 

 without the tail ; and would weigh twenty-five 

 hundred pounds. The men were delighted with 

 this acquisition. I now had fourteen porters, 



