70 THROUGH ANGOLA 



and had a great deal to say to each other. (The 

 genet is so small and moves so quickly that 

 perhaps he has few dangerous enemies, and little 

 fear in consequence.) 



" At one of the other pools, a heavy animal, 

 probably a roan antelope, had thrust his way 

 through the bushes to the water, had drunk, and 

 crossed the stream to the forest on its other bank. 

 ' It was now dark, and an owl was hooting 

 on my tree, a tribute to the stillness of my watch ; 

 and o. nightjar was calling his monotonous, end- 

 ].L.^:> KGie in the bushes near the pool. I had made 

 up my mind not to fire at anything but the lioness, 

 but could not keep from thinking of the big pig 

 track near the pool, and wondering if it might be 

 Iliac of the rare giant hog, an animal hitherto 

 unknown in Angola. 



' It was nine o'clock, and bright moonlight, 

 when a heavy animal came forcing its way through 

 the bushes towards the stream. Then a dark ob- 

 only appeared beyond the pool. From 

 mi, *10 feet above the ground, the shape 

 was of a hyifjna, with its high shoulders and 



sloping back, but the colour was not the grey of 

 a hyaena at night. The colour seemed black. I 

 felt very puzzled and uncertain as to what the 

 beast eouid be, when the recollection of the big- 

 pig track came suddenly to my mind. Doubt 

 changed to certainty : the animal must be a gaint 

 hog, and my rifle swayed just a little through 

 excitement when the shot was fired. The bullet 



i struck there was no doubt of that for the 

 rush was that of a sorely stricken beast, and a 



