Guinea-fowl 



him evidently in the desired spot ; it was, in any 

 case, a clean miss or deadly shot, the mark being 

 so small a one that the former might easily have 

 been the case. However, a great splash followed 

 the report, and the hippo disappeared beneath 

 the surface. That is what I understood might 

 take place, for I knew that if I killed one of these 

 animals, the body would sink, and not rise to 

 the surface for three hours or more, in which 

 time the carcass would have been more or less 

 distended with gas. It was useless to wait 

 for this to happen. I therefore returned to 

 camp for supper, the afternoon drawing to a 

 close. Near the tent I heard guinea-fowl that 

 had gone to roost in a tree. I took my twelve- 

 bore Paradox shot-gun, which is a useful 

 enough weapon as it fires shot well and a ball 

 excellently straight up to a hundred yards, and 

 proceeded to get some fresh meat for the larder. 

 I had only one shot at several that were perched 

 on the limb of a tree, managing to kill three, 

 which I brought in and handed over to Tom, 

 my cook boy, who made a most excellent salmis 

 of the carcasses. One bird he left for the morrow, 

 when I found that it was impossible to eat it, 

 the flesh having become objectionably high in 

 that short time. 



At this place where I was camped there was 

 a ford used by animals to cross the lagoon. Soon 

 after dark the most unearthly roars proceeded 



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