50 SAFARI 



bered that our own expedition was not for hunting 

 except in a pictorial sense. When we killed a lion 

 or elephant it was solely to save our lives and not to 

 boast that we had broken a record. We never fired 

 a shot except when absolutely forced to do so. 



One stove was finished the very first day. It was 

 built on the order of a separate fireplace, with large 

 boulders especially selected for their size and color. 

 We had one head cook and several kitchen assistants. 

 Everything that we used in the way of pots and paAs 

 was kept in a state of the most scrupulous cleanliness. 



Strange to say, Osa's narrowest escape from injiuy 

 in Africa came not from a wild animal but from cook- 

 ing. We were cooking a juicy young guinea fowl. 

 It was cleaned with its feathers on. Then Osa 

 wrapped a damp towel around it, placed it in a hole 

 in the ground with a little sand and a lot of hot 

 ashes. The whole thing was finally covered with a 

 thick layer of more sand to keep the heat in. 



After about two hours she knew the bird was done. 

 At her word the black cook opened the hole. Sud- 

 denly there was a loud explosion and a fragment of 

 red hot stone whizzed past her head, striking one of 

 the porters on his cheek and causing a deep cut and 

 biim. Had Osa not moved a moment before she 

 might have been killed. 



I later found this is not an uncommon occurrence. 

 Stones often explode in this region when heated. 



