54 HUNTING TRIPS IN NORTHERN RHODESIA. 



not sorry to say good-bye to the steamer, as we were carrying a number of 

 Portuguese soldiers whose dirty habits are anything but agreeable. Finding my 

 houseboat ready, I got my kit on board, after having lunch with the agent of the 

 Zambesi Company (a Portuguese concern). He was very kind and obliging 

 as most Portuguese officials are when treated properly. 



A houseboat is fairly large as a rule, and, as its name implies, it has a house 

 or cabin at the stern, in which the traveller rests and sleeps. In good-sized boats 

 this cabin will permit of a deck chair being put up, and there is also room for a bundle 

 or two and a box. 



The boat is propelled by men, who use long bamboo poles, or, where the water is 

 too deep for this mode of progression, paddles are used instead. Going up-stream, 

 poles are generally used, but when coming fast down-stream the men keep the 

 boat in the deep water and use the paddles. They become very proficient in the 

 use of both, and even against a strong current get along at a fair pace. On the 8th I 

 killed two crocodiles, but neither of them was very large. The biggest crocodile 

 I ever saw was one I hit from the steamer, and I thought I had killed it, and was just 

 preparing to make certain with another shot when two of the Portuguese soldiers 

 blazed away and frightened him into the water, their bullets hitting the sand far above 

 him. I don't know what he measured, but he looked half as big again as the largest 

 I ever measured on the Zambesi, the length of which was 14ft. 



The captain of the steamer, who had been on the river for some time, said he 

 had never seen a bigger, and I wish I had killed him to make sure of his length, 

 which I firmly believe was close on 20ft. 



On the day I shot the two crocs the pole was taken out of one of the boatmen's 

 hands by one of these animals. I saw him drop his pole and strike some hard 

 substance at the bottom. Next moment he was almost dragged into the water, as 

 something, which could only have been a crocodile, had grabbed his pole. The 

 animal soon let it go, and we recovered the pole and went on. 



At this time of year the river is at its lowest, and the only means of travel is by 

 houseboat or canoe. 



I have often thought it would pay a man to run a small launch on the river, to 

 transport passengers up and down, for houseboats are very slow going up-stream. 



We usually slept on an island, and if there was no firewood there we used 

 to bring it from one of the banks. The men slept ashore, and I under my mosquito 

 net in the little cabin. These pests are always numerous on the Zambesi, and their 

 unceasing attentions in the evening are the only drawback to a river trip. 



There is a fly called the "hippo" fly, which annoys one during the day. Its 



