THE HUNTER HUNTED 165 



we moved off and camped about three-quarters 

 of a mile off. We should have gone farther on. 



That night I felt very anxious and hardly slept. 

 There was bright moonlight, and about four in the 

 morning, lying awake in my blanket, I heard 

 whistling some way off. It appeared to me as if 

 someone was trying to locate our camp and 

 expecting to get an answer from it. Jumping up 

 immediately, I shook and woke Brown and Lewis. 

 " Look out," I said, " there seem to be natives 

 trying to locate us ; it may be the natives pro- 

 mised for guides and messengers, but it seems too 

 early, and I don't like it. Better get ready to 

 get out of this quick." Grabbing my rifle and 

 bandolier, I went out towards where one could 

 hear at intervals the whistling in the distance, to 

 see what could be made of it. I worked around, 

 and the whistling began to get nearer. 



To cut a long story short, I found myself in a 

 short time between two small parties of German 

 askaris ; we started to shoot at each other at close 

 range, but in moonlight. I soon got the worst of 

 it, receiving a bullet through my bandolier and 

 a wound near the hip, and cleared out, to discover 

 that I was on the bank of the river ; I had not 

 realised I was so close. To save myself from being 

 surrounded, in I had to go ; the water was quite 

 warm, and, after partly wading and partly 

 swimming for a couple of hundred yards or so 

 (besides having to rescue my old felt hat, which 

 started floating off on its own), I got out on the 



