314 ELEPHANT-HUNTING IN EAST AFRICA chap. 



bait for a gun which I had offered to set. By this time it had 

 all been eaten, so I was unable to lay a trap then. 



Bawdo, a younger brother of the chief and a friend of mine, 

 brought word that afternoon that elephants were damaging the 

 crops on the other side of the river ; so it was arranged that he 

 should come first thing next morning to take me to hunt for 

 them. Accordingly at sunrise I started with him and my 

 usual attendants. I did not like the ferrying in a crank and 

 wobbly canoe : 1 am no sailor, and confess I do not feel safe in 

 such a craft, with my clothes and boots on, and over a deep 

 and dark river below whose smooth surface I know lurk 

 monstrous crocodiles in numbers, voracious and hungry. But 

 Bawdo was expert with his pole, used either to punt or paddle 

 according to the depth of the water. He was a fine athletic 

 savage, tall and lithe, and looked quite a model in ebony as he 

 stood in the stern of his dug-out, pole in hand, plying it 

 vigorously, now on this side and now on that. Our quest was 

 fruitless as far as elephants were concerned. We followed the 

 spoor of a small herd of cows a long distance, but then found 

 the footprints of some natives following it ahead of us, so it 

 was useless going farther. 



On the way back we came across a small herd of topi antelope. 

 I got a nice shot and knocked over two (bull and cow) with my 

 .303. Bawdo, who had never seen anything shot before, was 

 much impressed at seeing each tumble over a i&\w yards from 

 where it had received the bullet, and examined the tiny holes 

 (^particularly those of egress) with evident emotion. I was 

 glad that he, an important and noted warrior, had witnessed 

 this practical demonstration of the power of our weapons ; 

 because I had heard that some of the young men of Kere had 

 made contemptuous remarks about firearms as compared with 

 spears for fighting purposes, and did not doubt that his report 

 would have a salutary effect. We pulled the two " topis " under 

 a tree, and I left a man to commence skinning, while we 

 returned to camp and sent others to carry in the meat. It 



