196 SAFARI 



worst period of the day for the shimmering heat 

 waves which are the bane of African photography. 



Besides all these smaller handicaps there are only 

 about seven months of the year when one may expect 

 good pictorial conditions. This is through the dry 

 season in the months following the two rainy periods. 

 During the rains with water abundant everywhere 

 the game scatters so widely that the animals are 

 hard to find and travelling is difficult. There is a 

 slight advantage in camera hunting the elephant 

 during the rainy season when he leaves the forest for 

 the plains, if one can only be on hand at the time; 

 but it is almost impossible to follow him for consider- 

 able distances. 



Photography from bhnds is practical only in the 

 dry season when one has the water to bring the 

 thirsty animals into range. Blinds demand patience. 

 They must be built and then left for a week or ten 

 days before any attempt is made to use them so 

 that the game will get used to considering them a 

 natural and harmless part of the landscape. One 

 must expect to waste a great deal of the effort made 

 in blind work. Often have I built a series of blinds 

 commanding a waterhole and then at the very time 

 I started to use them the wind would shift against 

 all calculations, and blow my scent toward the 

 water. 



I have one word of cheer to add to the lore of blind 



