WITH FLASH-LIGHT AND RIFLE 



reed-grown spot. Suddenly a herd of wart-hogs, which 

 we had disturbed at their morning mud-bath, breaks out 

 from the reed thicket towards the open steppe. Quick- 

 ly my carrier hands me the rifle and I manage to kill the 

 hindmost pig before it reaches the sued a - bush. One 

 of my men carries it to the camp. Its flesh will furnish 

 us a fine roast and its skin and skull will enrich my col- 

 lection. 



Again we proceed. The marshy ground is criss-cross- 

 ed by the paths of the hippopotamus, but the animals 

 have long ago retired into the impenetrable depths of 

 the swamp thickets. Above us circles a screaming eagle 

 hailing the morning with its high-pitched " gliue gli gli, 

 gHue gli gli." " A reedbuck, master " (nyama bwana), 

 my rifle-carrier whispers to me. A beautiful antelope 

 with a yellowish coat, of the size of a deer, grazes on an 

 open place unaware of our presence. I watch her — for 

 it is a doe, and I do not mean to kill her — for a few 

 minutes, take a picture of her, and then scare her away. 

 I am not so lucky with a female koodoo, which takes to 

 its heels before I can take a snap-shot. 



Now the steppe becomes more open and arid and 

 animals rarer. Only a few spur-winged lapwings follow 

 us uttering their low, melancholy cry. My men look 

 for the nests, which they find, full of eggs, in a near-by 

 reed thicket. 



We are advancing farther into the steppe, along the 

 edge of the big swamp. A brightly colored jabiru is 



340 



