HUNTING AND HUNTED IN BELGIAN CONGO 



lose no time in attending to it. Suppose, for instance, 

 that you are bitten on the calf of the leg, make a tourni- 

 quet or tie a handkerchief very tightly round the leg 

 above the knee thus stopping the flow of blood below 

 the bandage, next take a knife and cut the wound open 

 and rub in permanganate of potash ; but this is of little 

 avail unless applied almost immediately after the bite, 

 so it should always be carried on the person. Be careful, 

 whether the bite be on leg or arm, not to use the knife 

 crossways, but cut parallel with the limb and thus 

 minimise risk of severing an artery. A friend of mine, 

 Mr. " Jock " Craig, of Cape Colony, who was with me on 

 the Consolidated Gold Fields, had a marvellous escape 

 from death. He was out shooting, and when getting 

 over a fence he set his foot on a large puff adder that 

 lay hidden in the grass, of course the fat was in the 

 fire instantly, and he was bitten on the leg. With great 

 presence of mind he shot the snake there and then, and 

 in a trice dashed back to the house, where an old native 

 woman who saw him coming lost no time in cutting open 

 the flesh and applying Reckitt's Blue, which was effectual 

 in saving his life. Snakes have an exceedingly strong 

 partiality for milk, and often enough cows are found 

 sucked dry when brought into the kraals after grazing 

 in the lands. It is then that your boy comes to you from 

 the kraal and says, " Baas, milk no come." 



As we pursued our march we came upon a river running 

 south-west of the Ara, which was only some fifteen yards 

 across in flood time, nevertheless its passage proved 

 exceedingly difficult. Trees were cut down, and one 

 massive trunk lay from bank to bank, over this the boys 

 started to go without their loads to test its stability, 

 and when they were nearly over the opposite bank caved 

 in and the party were hurled into the seething, swirling 

 waters. I was glad I had taken the precaution to 

 test the structure before trusting the loads, guns, and 



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