28 PEACE: LION HUNTING 



wished I had thought of bringing up mails for 

 them, for I found they had been without news for 

 over five months. During the afternoon I paid 

 a visit to the Portuguese fort across the river, 

 where the Portuguese Commandant also received 

 me very kindly. After the presentation of my 

 credentials, I explained that my plan was to work 

 through Angola towards Rhodesia, for the purpose 

 not only of seeing a new country, but more 

 especially of hunting lions ; elephants I had no 

 desire to shoot, and, apart from lions, I proposed 

 to kill only the buck necessary to keep my camp 

 in meat. The Commandant at once gave me full 

 permission to carry out this plan, assisting me 

 further with a letter of introduction to his posts 

 farther down the Okavango. As to any payment 

 in the matter of a licence he simply would not 

 hear of it at all. A thoroughbred Portuguese 

 gentleman, this Lieutenant Duron, the Com- 

 mandant. 



Next day we crossed the river with our whole 

 camp, pulling the wagon to pieces and then 

 floating it over, with our other belongings in 

 canoes, and swimming the stock. This was the 

 first experience of swimming donkeys across a 

 river, and a nice handful they were too. I swam 

 old Billy — my old grey horse — myself, with the 

 two mules following like a pair of big foals. I 

 had bought a team of oxen for the small wagon, 

 as we thought it would be much easier travelling 

 with oxen than with the donkeys. The younger 



