HUNTING AND HUNTED IN BELGIAN CONGO 



lighted at night, in order to keep the flies away from the 

 cattle. Mr. Walsh came down to our camp in the after- 

 noon, and as he knew South Africa very well — having 

 been there during the Matabele campaign — we found 



plenty to talk about. That evening P and I, arrayed 



in the most presentable portions of our wardrobes, paid 

 a return visit and had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. 

 Walsh, who without question is the best known woman 

 in either Uganda or British East Africa. 



The next morning we pushed on, and during the day 

 managed to get some very good sport among a great 

 many buck and wild-fowl, bagging two of the former 

 and three fowl. At frequent intervals buffalo, water 

 and reed buck, were to be seen some distance away. 

 Huge beetles laboured heavily as they crossed the road, 

 often in large numbers. The biggest specimen in this 

 branch of insect life is the Goliath beetle, to be found 

 throughout Uganda. Surely no better field exists than 

 Central Africa for studying the marvels of insect life. 

 Huge spiders, with webs that offer no little resistance to 

 the traveller, abound in the forests of the Congo. It 

 is interesting to record the fact that one of the largest 

 elephants known was found dead a few years ago — pre- 

 sumably from old age — close to the 80 mile post on 

 this road. Some people are wont to undertake extra- 

 ordinary journeys. One poor fellow without means of 

 subsistence, set out to walk from Cairo to Cape Town. 

 He reached Hoima, where some charitably disposed people 

 collected a few rupees for him, in order that he might 

 obtain food on the march to Kampala. At the 70 

 mile post, where he camped one night, he contracted 

 spirillum fever, and he died before reaching Kampala. 



We are all apt to do very rash things when travelling 

 in wild countries. One of the most dangerous is to travel 

 without a bed or mosquito net. Again, people should 

 be warned against dirty camping grounds, old dry and 



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