-♦) 



Camping out on the Velt 



the next morning.^ Hyenas and jackals came very often, 

 and even lions sometimes came to within a short distance 

 of the camp. Thus my zoological garden, in spite of its 

 size, could well boast of being, so to speak, the most 

 primitive in the world. 



But we had our anxious moments. Death levied its 

 toll among my people, and the continual rumours of 

 uprisings and attacks from outside gave plenty to talk 

 about during the whole day, and often far on into the 

 night over the camp-fire. When one of these charming 

 African moonlit nights had set in over my homestead, 

 when the noise of the bearers with their chatter and 

 clatter had ceased, and my work, too, was done, then I 

 used to sit awhile in front of the flickering flames and 

 think. Or I would wander from fire to fire to exchange 

 a few words with my watchmen, to learn their news and 

 their wishes and to ask much that I wanted to know. 

 This is the hour when men are most communicative, and 

 unless there be urgent need of sleep the conversation 

 may continue far into the night. 



There is something strangely beautiful about those 

 nights in the wilderness. My thoughts go back to an 

 encampment I once made at the foot of the volcanic 

 mountain of Gelei, close to a picturesque rocky gorge, in 

 the depths of which was a small stream — a mere trickle 

 during the hot weather. Its source lay in the midst of 

 an extensive acacia wood, which tailed off on one side 

 into the bare, open " boga," while on the other it became 

 merged in a dense thicket of euphorbia trees, creepers, 

 ^ Cf. With Flashlight and Rifle, 



615 



