104 A f ter Bi g Game in Central Africa 



December, January, February, and March : rain 

 and tall grass. Animals are invisible, lost in the 

 dense vegetation ; water is abundant ; everywhere are 

 streams, rivers, rain-water pools, and marshes. Ante- 

 lopes are very rarely seen ; big animals travel little ; 

 elephants linger in marshy regions. It is the time 

 when the elephant, the rhinoceros, and the buffalo are 

 hunted in preference to other denizens of the woods. 



April, May, June, and July : showery weather and 

 tall grass, more or less dried up. It is impossible to 

 walk in the bush without making a noise by brushing 

 against the grass. Despite all precautions, you an- 

 nounce your presence ; moreover, being ignorant of 

 the position of animals, you run the risk of being 

 scented. Elephants begin to travel ; rhinoceros 

 get under shelter at dawn ; antelopes are invisible. 

 This is the most disagreeable and least fruitful period 

 for sport. Rain-water pools and marshes have disap- 

 peared, and rivers begin to go down. 



August, September, October, and November : dry- 

 ness. Fire clears the greater part of the country and 

 burns the grass, leaving everywhere only trees, bushes, 

 and shrubs, surrounded by a carpet of ashes which 

 changes in November into a green carpet. 1 Animals 

 can be seen distinctly ; large animals seek wooded 

 places, impenetrable to the light, which the fire 

 has spared ; antelopes collect in districts where there 

 are drinking places. Water becomes scarcer and 

 scarcer, especially towards the end of November, and 

 night-watches can be made with success. During the 



1 See Mes Grandes Chasses, pp. 122, 202, 237, and 241. 



