HUNTING AND HUNTED IN BELGIAN CONGO 



" He carries a big stick, and comes with many people," 

 he cried. 



In a few minutes P stepped out of the grass 



followed by crowds of excited villagers. Two white men 

 in the village together ! It was a thing that they had 

 not witnessed for years, perhaps never before. Two 

 white men ! They rubbed their eyes and wagged their 

 heads, gazing at us in wonderment as we both laughed 

 at the sight of each other. There was no doubt that we 

 had changed since our separation. Both of us had beards 

 and our clothing had suffered somewhat from the effects 

 of thorn bushes and flooded rivers. There were huge 

 patches in our knickers and shirts, and the swamps, 

 floods, and other incidentals of the march had left their 

 marks. 



All the boys that had been with P were genuinely 



pleased to see me again, and loud shouts of " Jambo, 

 Bwana " (good day, master) were raised again and 

 again as each boy dropped his load and saluted me with 

 beaming countenance. We had much to tell each other, 

 and the whole day was devoted to smoking and chatting. 

 Both cooks were instructed to cook the best chickens 

 that could be found. The villagers were never tired of 

 watching the two white men talk and laugh as we sat under 

 the fly of the tent, which extended some eight feet from 

 the body of the tent itself. 



P 's trip had not been without its fruits, in spite 



of hostile natives and flooded country around the Assua. 

 He had been down to Wadelai and learnt of my having 

 passed through for the Osso : following up again in my 

 trail he had also come through the same swamp as myself, 

 and found the bones of the mule and a piece of the head- 

 stall, which at once told him of the misfortunes I had had. 

 He had had similar experiences in the flat country south 

 of Dufile and close to the Nile, and fearing that I was 

 unable to get up to him, he pressed forward to Wadelai, 



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