322 DUCK SHOOTING 



caste Portuguese proprietor; farther on a mass 

 of forest trees, their riverward branches thickly 

 matted with grey, beard-like orchilla weed, and 

 in the distance the rovmded masses of the deep 

 green, majestic mangoes ; wild bananas, baobabs, 

 lliana-entangled African teak trees, and a pro- 

 fusion of other interesting growths too numerous 

 to mention. 



My host was landed at a point where a small, 

 dry, grass-overgrown creek emptied the waters of 

 the rainy season into the river, and a similar post 

 was found for me on the other side. We had not 

 long to wait. 



As the golden light of the waning afternoon 

 threw long shadows upon the tranquil water, the 

 advance guard of the " whistlers " came in sight 

 round a corner, and for over an hour thereafter 

 the firing on one side of the river or the other 

 was almost continuous. The only varieties we 

 secured apart from the ducks referred to were three 

 spur-winged geese, and one or two teal and poch- 

 ard. There was great glee that night among the 

 blue-jackets of the lower deck when the tooth- 

 some birds came to be distributed. 



The following morning, accompanied by two 

 light native canoes carried upon the backs of their 

 respective owners, we left the ship at an early 

 hour, and pushed our way through the drenching 

 dew to a large marsh or swamp lying several miles 

 to the south of the main channel of the Zambezi. 



I do not think any person who had not had the 

 experience would realise how intensely wet he 

 could get in forcing his way in the early morning 



