AN EXCITING RIDE 



unmanageable, so that I could not get off, especially 

 as I only had one hand free. At last we entered 

 the bush, going at full gallop, and matters became 

 really exciting. It was a mad rush, but my only 

 chance was to catch the zebra and shoot it as I 

 passed, and this I managed to do very luckily almost 

 at once, for the zebra stumbled and fell, and I killed 

 it before it rose again ; but it took me quite a time 

 to quieten the mule. The men came up shortly after, 

 and I left them to bring in the meat, while I rode 

 back to camp, and enjoyed the luxury of a shave and 

 a warm bath while dinner was being prepared. I 

 rather disliked the idea of eating zebra, but I was 

 spared the ordeal, for my skinner, who had been out 

 collecting, had killed a francolin — a change in my 

 menu that was very welcome. My men, however, 

 were glad enough to have the zebra, especially as 

 they are among the few wild animals on which there 

 is any fat, of which they are, almost without exception, 

 inordinately fond. 



All through my stay at the Lorian, especially when 

 working in the swamps, I was much troubled by a 

 variety of biting flies and insects, but chiefly by 

 swarms of mosquitoes {Stegomyia). They are found 

 in incredible numbers near the river, becoming more 

 and more scarce as one leaves it, until they disappear 

 at a distance of about five miles away. Along the 

 water's edge and in the reed beds their attentions 

 become almost unbearable, attacking one in a perfect 

 swarm all day long, and, although a mosquito curtain 

 kept them off at night, the irritation caused by their 

 bites made sleep impossible. Though numerous in 

 Jubaland, I had never met them in sufficient numbers 

 to cause much annoyance, but in the Lorian, hunger, 



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