THROUGH ELEPHANT GRASS AND WATER 



of sunset colours. In the east the sky was of the darkest 

 shade of blue. Slowly a mass of floating grass drifted 

 across the lake into the river below. Gradually the 

 colours blended smoothly into a rose-like hue, nothing 

 was sharp, there was no violence in this marvellous 

 transformation scene. 



As I walked away towards the camp the air became 

 quite cool and when half-way up the slope I turned to 

 gaze again at the scene. A picture that no living hand 

 could hope to reproduce. The great sun had died away, 

 and with it the voice of the native in the canoe had become 

 more and more indistinct as he headed for the river. 

 Slowly the shades of night dropped down upon us. 



Outside the Post-house camp fires glimmered and 

 by nine o'clock the great moon was well in the sky, 

 throwing its light across the lake below us. Slowly 

 the Southern Cross rose up in the sky amid myriads of 

 other stars. On the banks of the river below mights- 

 hippopotami crashed and roared in the grass, reminding 

 one that canoe travelling at night is a risky undertaking, 

 for these brutes are fond of attacking any craft. Night 

 birds wheeled overhead. From the Congo side the 

 lurid glare of fires showed up above the trees, a dance was 

 evidently in progress, judging from the shouting and 

 singing accompanied by drums beating that reached our 

 ears. One by one the fires of our boys in the camp died 

 out, the smoke cleared away from the huts, under the 

 rays of the moon everything was as light as day. Sabawa 

 had ceased to chatter of the elephants. The figures of 

 the boys could be seen, rolled up in their blankets near the 

 fires, most of them asleep : here and there a crooning 

 individual would poke around the ashes of the fire : 

 selecting one of the embers he would blow gently on it as 

 he held it in his fingers until it glowed. Then he relit 

 his pipe, puffing vigorously, and with an air of content- 

 ment drew the blanket around him. Two or three sat 



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