WITH FLASH-LIGHT AND RIFLE 



large river. The cattle I had with me went up to the 

 water's edge, but did not drink; no doubt they scented 

 danger. My men threw large stones into the water, 

 with a great deal of noise ; the animals then drank their 

 fill of the precious liquid and pastured on the fresh grass 

 near by. The stragglers of my caravan arrived a little 

 later, and with them came a small drove of cattle. The 

 latter were quenching their thirst ; one of them, a fine, 

 black bull, advanced a few steps, his forelegs sinking 

 deep into the river mud. Suddenly I saw the head of 

 a crocodile emerge, and a second later the bull disap- 

 peared under the water. I hardly believed my eyes. 

 Running to the spot, I noticed a few bubbles rising to 

 the surface, but no sign of either bull or crocodile. 

 My men and I ran along the bank, down-stream, and 

 after a while we saw, on the opposite, distant shore, 

 the body of the bull surrounded by a number of croco- 

 diles. In the same way the reptile will prey on human 

 beings, as I once had occasion to observe. I was with 

 my caravan, on my way back to the coast, after a suc- 

 cessful expedition (i 899-1 900) into the interior, when 

 one of my blacks, who had drunk too freely of the sweet 

 palm-wine, fell from the small bridge leading across the 

 Pangani River near Korrogwe. The current carried him 

 off before we could go to his aid and save him from the 

 jaws of a crocodile, which in a moment had dragged him 

 down. 



Whenever we were forced to ford a river — the water 



168 



