HUNTING AND HUNTED IN BELGIAN CONGO 



village were lit up with ghostly uncertain lights and 

 reflections from the flickering flames of the fires. Silently 

 we retreated down the path by which we had come the 

 previous day, and presently we cut across country regard- 

 less of rivers or any other obstacles so long as we kept 

 off the paths, lest we should encounter any prowling 

 natives who might raise the alarm. In the darkness of 

 the night, for the moon was clouded, we were torn 

 horribly by the long thorns and the wacht en beetje 

 bush, as the Dutch call it, with its small hooked thorn 

 that invariably snaps off in the flesh if you brush by too 

 hurriedly. The damp cold atmosphere struck a chill 

 through one's body ; now and again we would stop and 

 listen for any signs of pursuit, but none came ; strange 

 noises from birds and low growls now and again reached 

 our ears, showing that our presence was detected by 

 bird and beast as we passed through some glade or 

 thicket. 



By daybreak we stood, I calculated, about twelve 

 miles north-east of the village we had so hurriedly left 

 behind. We were now some six days from Wadelai, 

 and at the foot of the Divide. Two days after this affair, 

 when fifty miles or so south-west of Wadelai, I was com- 

 pelled to stay in bed and rest for a day, for excruciating 

 pains shot through head and body. I was afraid I was in 

 for a serious illness, but after doctoring myself with hot 

 whisky and water I was well enough to proceed the next 

 day. The poultry enjoyed the day's rest, and frequent 

 cock fights took place ; their chief delight, however, was 

 to feed on the ants that ran up and down the trunk of a 

 big tree. 



The boys killed a snake measuring just under fifteen 

 inches long which they found curled up in the grass at 

 the back of my hut. Snakes are always most unwelcome 

 visitors where I am concerned, and size alone does not 

 determine their venomous attributes. In South Africa 



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