Northern Nigeria 



unwilling to bestir myself again at once, I 

 chucked him a pot of taxidermine, and told him to 

 tell Ajala to rub it well into the hair and round 

 the eye-holes, ears, and lips. I had shot the 

 duiker early the preceding day, so I imagined it 

 quite possibly was " a bit off." About an hour 

 after I strolled round to the men's camp-fire, and 

 beheld Mr. Ajala streaked all over the face and 

 head with white taxidermine. It was his own 

 head to which he had been alluding ! 



There was so much game about here, and 

 Nature had provided them with so much cover, 

 that we shot pretty much what we could. It was 

 impossible in this heavy bush to wait to examine 

 heads very carefully. You hardly ever saw a 

 whole beast just a momentary chance at a part 

 of him. Also, no European rifle had troubled them 

 before, and few were ever likely to trouble them 

 again ; and we wanted all the meat we could get. 

 Not an ounce of it was wasted ; all was smoked 

 and distributed among our followers, to be eaten 

 at leisure or smoked and sold afterwards. And 

 it was a good thing to give as I make bold to 

 think we did a favourable impression of hunting 

 with white men. Abadie shot a water-buck one 

 morning, and three hartebeest that afternoon; 

 and next morning I had a turn, coming suddenly 

 on four bush-buck drinking at a stream. One I 

 shot before they started ; my second barrel dropped 



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