A NOVEL CAPTURE. 1 I 5 



ably free of such abominations, so I ultimately 

 secured the mammoth. It was a well-fed, thick 

 beast, of the same species as formerly secured, and 

 apparently in the height of condition, and, but for 

 the large flat head, was in no other respect objec- 

 tionable in appearance. I now produced my hunt- 

 ing knife and split my trophies, removed the 

 internals and vertebrae, which were thrown into the 

 stream to act as ground bait, and Sunday started 

 for camp with the proceeds of the expedition, pre- 

 viously having received instructions to place a 

 sufficiency of the fish for the next meal in a stewpan, 

 over some embers, and then return to me. 



My servant having left, I recommenced angling, 

 but, to my surprise, not a bite did I get, not even a 

 nibble. This was remarkable, as formerly, scarcely 

 had the bait descended to the vicinity of the bottom, 

 when the cork indicated that there was a hungry 

 claimant for terrestrial honours in its vicinity. 



The day was pleasant, a soothing breeze agitated 

 gently the surface of the water, the rushes, and tree 

 leaves ; thus the mosquitoes were not out on the prowl, 

 so I got dozy. However, I was not too much asleep 

 to discover that my cork had disappeared. Spring- 

 ing to my legs, I struck very hard, I fear savagely, 

 and immediately afterwards I could feel that I was 

 fast in something ; what on earth it could be, I 

 wondered, possibly a crocodile or hippo, for the 

 weight and opposing power was tremendous. 



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