174 A GREAT HUNTER. 



bear on the barrels, but the crane-like neck of my 

 friend doubtless easily overcame that difficulty. Al- 

 most my first question was, " What are these things 

 for ? " I was informed that they were '' medi- 

 cine ;" those on the gun guaranteeing straight shoot- 

 ing, while what he wore on his face and neck 

 shielded him from the paw of the angry lion or the 

 tusks of a furious elephant. He expressed his sur- 

 prise that I ventured among the denizens of the 

 forest without these charms. 



He also lost no time in informing me that he was 

 a great hunter, and that the lever, or buffalo, invariably 

 ran from him. This I could quite understand, as his 

 personal appearance was not sufficiently prepossessing 

 to warrant their courting his society. He had heard, 

 he said, that I was a great hunter, who had killed 

 many elephants and buffaloes, and he had come from 

 his village, where he was chief, to see me, and hunt 

 with me if I would permit him. Of course I could 

 not refuse such a condescension on his part, and hav- 

 ing told him I should feel honoured by his society, he 

 untied one of his bags and drew therefrom half a 

 dozen eggs, which he begged I would accept, assur- 

 ing me at the same time that they were fresh. He 

 then gave a " tooee," loud enough to drive all the 

 game in terror from the surrounding hills, and im- 

 mediately a creature almost entirely composed of legs 

 and arms rose like a ^'Jack-in-the-box" amongst the 

 long reeds some hundred yards behind, and with a 

 few strides, during which, from his peculiar gait, it 

 would be hard to say whether he was walking on his 

 legs or arms, came up to us. The hunter intro- 



