60 After Big Game in Central Africa 



oil in which you have browned a few onions, a little 

 thyme, etc., or an equivalent aromatic plant, one or 

 two very strong chillies, and let it cook gently for 

 twenty hours, still adding water when necessary. 

 Serve hot with manioc flour or grated biscuit 

 separately. 



N.B. This dish keeps several days, and only 

 requires re-warming. 



The tusks which I obtained from the large female 

 weighed about seventeen pounds each, and the others 

 ten pounds and a half, which is an average weight. 

 Female elephants' tusks are generally slender and 

 tapering, while those of males are proportionately 

 short and thick. 



I now resume my narrative at the time we leave 

 our elephant encampment. We set out very early in 

 the morning, leaving to the hyenas only the well- 

 cleaned bones of our gigantic pachydermata, and while 

 Bertrand with the column of bearers takes a short cut, 

 I make a large detour, so as not to have the wind at 

 my back if by chance we meet game. The weather 

 is cloudy, and fine rain which obscures the air and 

 forms a thin fog, preventing us from seeing far, is 

 falling. We cannot have been very far from the 

 camp when a tawny mass passes slowly between the 

 bushes. Our first thought is that it is a lion ; but, 

 notwithstanding the drizzle, a moment's examination 

 makes us certain about the animal a belated hyena. 

 The remainder of the day is passed under shelter. 

 The research brigade beats the surroundings without 



