BRITISH EAST AFRICA 231 



at tree trunks that grew in grotesque shapes hke 

 octopi, or hauhng ourselves up again by means 

 of branches. Here vegetation grew in a dense 

 and tangled riot, and peer as I might I could see 

 no trace of the beautiful black and white ape, 

 with hairs long and silky, and a snowy white 

 beard that gives him the appearance of a grotesque 

 Father Christmas. 



Chama, the other gun-bearer, at length seized 

 me by the arm and pointed straight in front of him. 

 Still I could see nothing but leaves and twigs 

 and branches all tangled together. Chama con- 

 tinued to point and gesticulate excitedly, but 

 it was quite useless. I could only see lianas 

 and creepers and giant trees, and here and there 

 a rift in the sea of vegetation through which 

 the blue tent of the equatorial sky was visible. 

 And so I stood, impotent and annoyed, until I 

 heard a faint rustle amongst the leaves and saw 

 something that looked almost like some weird 

 bird draped in black and white wool spring from 

 the leafy shelter of one tree to another. The 

 flight was so quick that my eye scarcely could 

 follow it, but this time the colobus took refuge 

 on a bough where the leaves were fewer and he 

 afforded a comparatively easy shot. Steadying 

 my rifle on Chama's shoulder, for my breath still 

 was coming in quick gasps — I pulled the trigger. 

 In the stillness of that primordial forest the shot 

 rang out as though it were the blatant trump 

 of doom. It echoed and re-echoed across deep 

 ravines that only these arboreal monkeys could 

 cross, and then there was a momentary silence 

 and the sound of something falling far away 

 down below us. Chama and I descended the 

 side of the mountain again, and about one hun- 

 dred feet below we found the colobus lying dead 



