92 After Big Game in Central Africa 



as related in the preceding chapter, and at the end of 

 the same month a lion wounded one of our men and 

 destroyed much baggage, clothing, and utensils. It 

 was at the opening of May that we had the fine 

 "battue" I have just related, which almost assumed 

 the proportions of a massacre. Finally, during May 

 I experienced, on a certain night, a series of vicissi- 

 tudes which I shall relate farther on. On the 

 other hand, sometimes you may remain four or five 

 months in regions where lions abound without even 



o 



meeting one although you beat the bush the whole 

 day and hear them at night. It is a matter of 

 chance. 



The expedition continues its studies and explora- 

 tion to the west of the Kapoche, a region which is 

 almost destitute of water during the dry season, and, 

 consequently, little frequented by fauna. Our stay 

 there is of short duration. We then go to the south- 

 west, across a very mountainous region where game 

 is rare, and we move to the west of Undi (of sad 

 memory), about five days' march from Mbazi Moun- 

 tain. 1 I meet there with the tracks of many 

 rhinoceros, and pitch my camp for a few r days to try 

 my luck. The only other animals are a few roan ante- 

 lopes. This country is very uneven, consequently 

 very fatiguing ; there are ravines, river - beds, with 

 perpendicular banks, hillocks, hills, and mountains 

 to wind round or to climb, making you think 

 that you are hunting chamois or bears rather than 

 rhinoceros. The rhinoceros, however, are fond of 



1 See Mes Grandes Chasses, pp. 134, 135, etc. 



