THE RIVER OF THE PLAINS. 133 



find the shadows prevent you from seeing the sights clearly. What is to be done ? 

 To " brown " the party is the only choice left, so you pull the trigger. 



You cannot tell if your shot has been successful or not. The great beasts are 

 still apparently in as profound a slumber as before, so, hastily reloading, you take aim 

 again, and pull the trigger. Still neither sound nor movement ! One last look at 

 them, and you turn round and make back as carefully and silently as you came. 



You remain in ignorance of the result of your shots, and, moreover, must wait 

 three whole months before you can know ; that is, until you get back to some civilised 

 part from where you can post the little packet of films to England and then wait until 

 they are returned to you developed. 



Will they show your sleeping friends, or will they show only a blank expanse of 

 river, or, worse still, a complete blank, proving that the films have got wet during a 

 fall of rain or whilst crossing neck-deep one of the swollen tributaries of the great 

 river on your return journey ? 



Meanwhile the great river-horses sleep on, all unaware of the ordeal through 

 which they have passed. 



