THE EVENING CAMP-FIRE 



in any case the flavour was splendid. I know of nothing 

 nicer than a piece of Grantia Thommi well cooked. 



After dinner came the best part of the day. A 

 good fire was kept burning brightly immediately in 

 front of our tent, so that as soon as dinner was finished 

 we could take our camp chairs out under the canvas 

 extension to the tent and sit in front of the blaze, get 

 on a pair of soft slippers, light a pipe, and then either 

 spin yarns one to another or hold a " shami " with 

 some of our boys. 



This is the part of safari life which appeals to me 

 most strongly. It is beyond description. There is 

 something weird and fascinating in sitting watching 

 the fire jump, seeing the glare momentarily light up 

 some black, grinning face with shining white teeth and 

 eyes, accentuating the darkness beyond. 



And then, suddenly, the howl of a hyena or the 

 distant roar of a lion comes in and breaks the spell. 



May 26. — We got up early this morning and went 

 out on the lake in a big rowing-boat we hired. We 

 took two of our boys who professed themselves able 

 to row, but we very soon found out that they had as 

 much idea of rowing as they had of flying, not even 

 knowing the bow from the stern. We pulled off 

 to a small clump of papyrus which stood like a solitary 

 sentinel about a mile from the shore, and wasted some 

 time in looking for the nest of a pelican which we 

 had noticed on two or three occasions leaving this 



77 



