HUNTING AND HUNTED IN BELGIAN CONGO 



another glade. In less than two hours we had climbed 

 up to the top of the flat high country which runs alongside 

 the Nile towards Wadelai. From here we looked back 

 over the tops of the densely packed trees that up to now 

 had kept the burning rays of the sun off our heads. 

 The plantation around the Boma, now eight miles away, 

 showed up clearly against the skyline. The Boma stands 

 far above the other buildings in Koba, and for some way 

 we could make out the Union Jack at the masthead, 

 fluttering over an outpost of civilization. The scene 

 was gradually lost to view as our path dipped towards 

 the first river outside Koba. The boys cautiously 

 climbed down its steep banks and entered the water, 

 which although it reached only up to the waist, ran 

 fiercely. It looked tempting to see those beautiful 

 swirling waters on their way to the Nile, which, though 

 still parallel to our path, now lay a mile away to the left. 

 Sixty yards above the ford and just around a bend 

 great rocks peeped up in the river and the water rushing 

 against them with fury sent clouds of spray high in the 

 air. There was a small cataract close by, the noise of 

 whose swirling waters resounded loudly in the small 

 canyon, whose steep banks were topped with fluttering 

 palms and cactus. Gaily coloured lizards were sunning 

 themselves on the banks and a beautiful crane fluttered 

 out of the long grass above the cataract. A heap of 

 grey ashes lay on the blackened surface of a slab of stone 

 close to the water, showing that natives had on the 

 previous night been down fishing by the light of the 

 fire. 



Arriving safely on the other side we rested for twenty 

 minutes, enabling the boys to splash about in the water 

 or to gather some of the wild fruit close by. A short 

 distance above us the steep high bank had slipped and 

 let three huge trees fall across the river, which they 

 spanned from bank to bank. It was interesting to 



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