436 THE FOREST AND THE FIELD, 



broke into the open, far out of range. Towards 

 noon, when the rays of the sun were getting 

 powerful, we lighted a fire, and the Kroomen 

 and I dined well off grilled pork and boiled rice, 

 but King Bapi's men preferred the snake, which 

 they broiled in the embers. No accounting for 

 taste, I thought, to prefer snake flesh to pork. 



After a couple of hours' siesta, we were again 

 afoot, and, striking off in a southerly direction, we 

 entered a patch of most luxuriant forest, through 

 which we were making our way by a wild-cattle run, 

 when, all at once, I heard a low hoarse bark, which 

 I thought proceeded from some kind of deer ; but 

 N'adoma told me that it was the cry of the "N'gina," 

 or gorilla. I immediately stole forward as gently 

 as possible, and soon came across the first unmis- 

 takable sign I had yet seen of the animal I had 

 come so far to shoot ; for not only were there dis- 

 tinctly fresh marks of feet, but I noticed branches 

 of shrubs lying about which had been broken off 

 and gnawed only a few moments before. 



Making signs to the people to remain as quiet as 

 possible, I crept forward, N'adoma alone following 



