1 74 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 



he was just the man to prove himself a formidable 

 opponent, for he had great influence with the people. 

 Both he and the older shikarie declared that the 

 unicorn still existed in Bornu and adjacent states 

 en route to Lake Chad, but they differed as to the 

 name it went by. The younger man said, when he 

 served as a soldier with the forces of the Sultan of 

 Bornu, he had seen one killed, and he called it by a 

 name I have forgotten ; but the elder man said that 

 was the native name of the oryx, and not of the 

 unicorn. Although they differed in particulars, they 

 insisted that such an animal was still to be found. I 

 had many a talk with both men. The elder said it 

 was not the season for hunting, as the grass had not 

 been burnt. The younger agreed with him, but said 

 if I liked to ascend the high hill which dominates 

 and towers above Lakoja, he would show me some 

 antelope and buffalo. I had not shaken off the fever, 

 but as I knew my stay in this part of the world 

 would not be protracted, I fixed an early date for our 

 excursion ; and two days afterwards I got up at 4 A.M. 

 It was a bright, moonlight night, and reaching Bud- 

 drodeen's house at 4.30, we started to climb the hill 

 by a steep, narrow path, by 5 A.M. I was as weak 

 as a half-starved rat, but having once made up my 

 mind I persevered. It took us two hours' real hard 

 work to reach the flat surface at the top, and I had a 

 bad fall on the way, barking the whole of the skin off 

 the knuckles of my right hand, which held a heavy 

 rifle, from a loose stone under foot, at a precipitous 

 bend, giving way, so that in saving my weapon my 

 person suffered. I was dead beat when we got to the 

 end of our climb, but a halt and a drink of water which 



