With Flashlight and Rifle ^ 



get back to the sea and to Europe, for, in view of my 

 weak condition after the fever, this was my intention at 

 the time. 



Down to the time of my illness I had had all kinds 

 of hunting experiences, but on my journey to Kikuyu 

 I had few opportunities of sport, and I was in any case 

 too feeble to undertake much in the way of exertion. 

 After we had attained the higher uplands my strength 

 began to come back to me astonishingly quickly, 

 indeed and with this sudden improvement in my health 

 came back naturally all my zest and keenness for 

 sport. 



Upon the desolate plateau of the Mau primeval forests, 

 with their endless bamboo-thickets, or in the woods 

 between the Naiwasha Lake and Fort Smith in Kikuyu, 

 I had not come across much in the way of wild life. 

 My rifle kept silence for days together. 



On January 24th I enjoyed the hospitality of the 

 commander of the English station, who (as is always the 

 pleasant custom in English colonies) not only in his 

 private capacity, but also officially, showed every possible 

 consideration for me and my caravan, lending us milking 

 cows, providing us with donkeys and provisions, and 

 doing everything in his power to help us and further 

 our plans. 



Mr. Hall, the commander of Fort Smith in Kikuyu, 

 a man of most attractive personality, is one of the most 

 experienced of African hunters, and is a sportsman of the 

 right sort. , We soon got talking of the one great theme 

 out there big-game shooting. 



356 



