WITH FLASH-LIGHT AND RIFLE 



and food where they were wont to pass the dry 



season. 



But the birds which live near the swamps and rivers 

 now found a fine crop of water-plants, filled with seeds, 

 floating on the lakes of the Ndjiri swamps. Immense 



NILE GEESE 



flocks of geese and ducks squatted on the marshy 

 ground. Thousands of gnus and zebras pressed up to 

 the shores of the lakes, the water of which was receding 

 as the dry season advanced ; and again the rhinoceros 

 returned nightly from the steppe to his drinking-place 

 near the swamps; and antelopes, water -bucks, wart- 

 hogs, and buffaloes drew nearer to the swampy region. 

 This was the right time for me to hunt these animals 

 and to study their ways. Therefore, I encamped on 

 the treeless plain near the lakes and lagoons and the 

 reedy marshes, leaving behind what I did not need — 

 especially my animals, mules, and cattle. These would 

 doubtless have been plagued to death by the flies and 



S6 



