1 68 After Big Game in Central Africa 



are different at night from what they are during the 

 day, the beasts examining suspicious objects for a long 

 time, prowling slowly round them, and thus giving 

 you time for reflection. Moreover, you have several 

 things in your favour : the stifling heat of the day, 

 which makes animals thirsty, the absence of other 

 drinking-places in the neighbourhood, and the very 

 strong temptation which the wild beast will have to 

 drink even if it suspects danger. Add also, as in 

 my case, an electric projector which will send into 

 the darkness a flood of light, and perfected 

 weapons which are terribly destructive if well 

 directed. 



One will be inclined to think that, with so many 

 precautions, this method of obtaining information, 

 and this perseverance, I must kill, wound, or at 

 least miss, an animal at every night-watch. Not 

 so. According to an average for the years 1892, 

 1893, 1894, 1895, and 1896, I have passed 185 

 whole nights, from sunset to sunrise, that is thirty- 

 seven nights a year, from October to December. 1 

 Out of these thirty-seven nights I have had on the 



average :- 



Sixteen nights without any result, having heard 

 and seen nothing : that is, almost half. 



Six nights during which I have seen something 

 without being able to fire. 



Seven nights during which I have fired, wounding 

 or missing animals which I have not been able to find. 



1 1892, twenty-one nights; 1893, thirty-two; 1894, thirty-five; 

 1895, forty-five ; and 1896, fifty-two. 



