CHAPTER III 



UNTRODDEN PATHS 



On the 5th of July I set out in company with Schubot?. and 

 Wintgens to explore the unknown country lying between the 

 Kagera and the little river Kakitumbe. As none of us was 

 acquainted with the actual conditions of the district, we kept at 

 first in the vicinity of the well-watered brook. It was cool here ; 

 in fact, quite cold at night, and in the early morning a dense mist 

 lay over the river valley. We found that our Celsius thermometer 

 registered only 7 degrees, and we quickly crept into our winter 

 coats. 



And so we drew away southwards along the course of the 

 Kakitumbe. A hunter's surprise awaited me here. In the course 

 of a short reconnaissance with Wintgens I observed, at a distance 

 of not many yards from our camp, a strong troop of elands with 

 a few powerful bulls among them. Ducking down immediately 

 and keeping close to the ground, I crawled through the grass till 

 I managed to get within shooting distance, when I brought down 

 a young animal of a dark yellow colour, whose appearance had 

 specially attracted me. Having secured the skin, we cut off the 

 head and horns, and proceeded to fix up three hyena traps. Next 

 morning we were surprised to find merely a broken-off under-jaw 

 in the snare and nothing more. The hyena had actually managed 

 to draw the trap some 400 yards away into the bush, and then 

 forfeited its under-jaw as the price of escape. Truly a striking 

 proof of the almost incredible hardiness possessed by certain 

 classes of African animals. 



In the meantime our zoological collection had assumed such 

 dimensions that Schubotz stayed in the camp to arrange and 



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