170 After Big Game in Central Africa 



croise, which I shall place to the account of my 

 adversaries. The evening I go to the north pool the 

 beasts all drink at the south pool, and when I lie in 

 ambush at the edge of the latter, absolutely nothing 

 comes. Among the animals frequenting these drinking- 

 places are two rhinoceros, strangers one to the other, 

 an enormous solitary lion, two lions in company, and 

 another family of three of these animals, two females 

 and a male. Up to the present they do not seem to 

 me to have any special pool ; they wander about the 

 country at night, and, from what I see, are well 

 acquainted with the existence of the four pieces of 

 water. They drink anywhere. I leave things to 

 chance, therefore, and it is the pair of lions that 

 I meet first of all. 



I am hidden with Tambarika and Kambombe at 

 the large south pool. The moon will not appear 

 until about nine o'clock, and between the setting of 

 the sun and the rising of the moon the darkness is 

 intense. Our hiding-place is at .the foot of an ant- 

 hill, left of the pool and about thirty feet from its 

 edge, around which is a gentle slope of one yard. 

 I have with me the Express No. 2 loaded with two 

 expansive bullets for the lion, the projector, 1 and the 

 luminous sights fixed to the barrel, in addition to' the 

 Express No. 1 loaded with two solid bullets for the 

 rhinoceros. Near at hand is the Winchester loaded 

 with buckshot, to be used for firing point blank in 

 case of imminent danger, such as a hand-to-hand 



1 For description of this projector and these sights, see Mes Grandes 

 Chasses, p. 311. 



