CAMPING AT EL BOGOI 



405 



appointing. Many friends cease to write when you are far from 

 regular reach of post ; others write perfunctorily, as an irksome 

 duty, and probably tell you about the weather ; some even say 

 disagreeable things, not taking the trouble to think how un- 

 pleasant it will be to read such productions in the loneliness 

 of the remote African wilderness. 



All this has a depressing effect on a sensitive traveller, 

 with the result that the reaction, after eager expectation, almost 

 makes him wish he had not read these disillusioning epistles. 

 Newspapers are, at all events, interesting ; there is nothing 

 personal about them, though they are cold comfort to the 



Fig. a. 

 Baited Trap for Hyena or Leopard. 



solitary exile. But there are other letters which it really does 

 him good to read ; some have thought of the wanderer, and 

 written so kindly, and with such evidently genuine good feeling, 

 as to bring a grateful glow to his heart. But such are few and 

 far between. From the rest he turns with relief, to listen once 

 more to the familiar tongues of the never ill-natured trees, to 

 study the rare books, and wish himself better qualified to 

 profit by the sermons of the stones. 



Fig. A represents the best method I know of for setting a 

 gun for a hyena or leopard. This trap is baited with a piece 

 of sinewy meat, tied firmly over the muzzle of the gun (I have 

 used a Snider carbine for the purpose), which should all but, 

 though not quite, pierce the centre of the bait. It is best to 



