AFRICA 



barking of zebra very near at hand. The latter 

 sounded as ridiculous as ever. It is one of the many 

 incongruities of African life that Nature should have 

 given so large and so impressive a creature the pet- 

 ulant yapping of an exasperated Pomeranian lap 

 dog. At the end of three quarters of an hour of more 

 or less stumbling progress, we made out against the 

 sky the twisted treelet that served as our landmark. 

 Billy dismounted, turned the mule over to the syce, 

 and we crept slowly forward until within a guessed 

 two or three hundred yards of our kill. 



Nothing remained now but to wait for the day- 

 light. It had already begun to show. Over be- 

 hind the distant mountains some one was kindling 

 the fires, and the stars were flickering out. The 

 splendid ferocity of the African sunrise was at hand. 

 Long bands of slate dark clouds lay close along the 

 horizon, and behind them glowed a heart of fire, as 

 on a small scale the lamplight glows through a metal- 

 worked shade. On either side the sky was pale 

 green-blue, translucent and pure, deep as infinity 

 itself. The earth was still black, and the top of the 

 rise near at hand was clear edged. On that edge, 

 and by a strange chance accurately in the centre 

 of illumination, stood the uncouth massive form of 

 a shaggy wildebeeste, his head raised, staring to the 

 east. He did not move; nothing of that fire and 



29 



