HUNTING AND HUNTED IN BELGIAN CONGO 



encircling creepers and moss. Progress was slow as we 

 felt our way through the masses of virgin nature un- 

 disturbed by the hand of man ; then suddenly, out of 

 the darkness of a forest region, we would emerge into 

 the full glare of the almost dazzling moon. In such 

 places there is a feeling of awe that holds one enthralled 

 as one stops to think of the vastness of those regions 

 of hanging creeper, beard moss, wild pepper, dense bush, 

 trees, and wild ferns, and underfoot is a thick bed of 

 springy vegetation which gives one the sensation of 

 walking on a spring mattress. You cannot see in day- 

 time farther than a few paces from where you stand, and 

 although the view is arrested within a few feet, there is 

 an instinctive knowledge that the place is vast, that you 

 are in forest regions in which dwell wild animals and 

 equally wild people. Strange unknown sounds can be 

 heard echoing around you, it is indeed a world of mystery 

 and romance. In every corner of the continent of 

 Africa, whether in the heart of the forest, on the grassy 

 plain or rugged kopje ; on the snow-capped Mountains 

 of the Moon ; from the Atlas range to the Twelve 

 Apostles in the south, you realize the feeling of fascina- 

 tion that the country has over you, which is known as 

 " the call of Africa." 



At times you are called out late in the day by a 

 native rushing into the camp bearing a piece of stick 

 measuring the exact size of the spoor he has just found, 

 possibly miles away. The stick being something over 

 fifteen inches long, you gather together your guns, pack 

 whatever food may be handy, summon a half-dozen 

 boys, and set out followed by a crowd of natives who 

 find it hard to suppress their excitement, for it is quite 

 possible that they have not tasted meat for years. In 

 the high country and around the mountains in many 

 cases there is no ground game for them to trap. Elephant 

 flesh rarely comes their way, and were it not for the white 



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