HUNGRY VULTURES IN THE VICINITY OF MY CAMP. 



XIV 



Camping out on the Velt 



AMONG the happiest days of my Hfe I reckon those 

 which I spent camping out in the heart of the Nyi'ka. 



Nearly every hour there had something fresh to arouse 

 my interest, not only in the life of the wild animals that 

 roamed at large all about, but also in that of the specimens 

 which I had caught or my men had brought to me, and 

 whose habits and ways I could observe within the enclosure 

 of the camp. Of course our unique menagerie could not 

 boast members of all the most attractive species of the 

 African fauna, but it included some very rare and 

 interesting animals which Europe has never seen. To 

 know these one must go and live in wildest Africa and see 

 them at home. 



My camp at times was like a little kingdom. Many 

 of my people went out for weeks together to barter for 



578 



