Mammon or Sport 



behind, through the hind-quarters, and so had pre- 

 vented the poor beast getting away. 



In shooting buck, one can hardly take sufficient 

 precaution to ensure the combination of a quick 

 death with a good shot, as I know of no more 

 pitiable sight than a wounded creature, who prob- 

 ably collects just sufficient strength to outdistance 

 his pursuers, only to ultimately die a lingering 

 death in the depths of the "gubba." The conduct 

 of the would-be sportsman, whose method is to 

 fire indiscriminately into the thick of a herd, as 

 he would say "on the chance," cannot be too 

 severely condemned, and to my mind should be 

 classed with that of the man I met near the Kafu 

 River, who, after severely wounding an elephant, 

 allowed it to shuffle away in a half-dying condition 

 because he discovered on a nearer approach that its 

 tusks were not so heavy as he had at first sight 

 supposed, and so he did not wish to count it on 

 his licence. This stamp of person might be described 

 as a gold prospector, certainly not a sportsman. 



I arrived in Mbarara in due course by easy 

 stages, and there I remained a whole week. I 

 greatly relished being in a house once more, and 

 thoroughly appreciated the many comforts it en- 

 tailed, and perhaps I derived some pleasure, when 

 the rain was pouring in buckets off the roof, from 

 sitting to watch it from the dry shelter of my 

 verandah. Discarding my much worn khaki, I got 

 into my white tennis flannels with as much joy as 

 a young girl trying on her wedding dress. I played 



225 15 



