380 



OUR STAY AT NDOKO 



had had to deal with, I took his advice, but I had scarcely 

 raised my gun before the animal was on his legs again opposite 

 to us. After a second shot in the shoulder he fell once more, 

 and lay with outstretched legs. We felt sure he was dead now, 

 but he got up, though evidently in great suffering, and went 

 slowly off, taking no notice of us. For a few moments he was 

 hidden by the bushes between us, but directly he reappeared 

 I greeted him with a charge from my elephant-gun. For a 

 third time he went down, but rallied yet again, and the next 

 moment he had disappeared in the bamboo thicket. After 

 these proofs of his marvellous vitality, I thought it wise not to 

 go after him at once, so I lit a pipe and waited, whilst the men 

 cut down the papyrus stems we meant to take with us. About 

 half an hour later we went in search of the buffalo, but though 

 we saw a great deal of blood, the spoor was often interrupted 

 by pools of water, and in the end we went back to the camp 

 without finding him. 



During a short hunting excursion in the afternoon, I came 

 upon a little family of forest antelopes, father, mother, and 

 child, but unfortunately I was only able to bring down the 

 mother. We saw very few forest antelopes on our journey, 

 and this was the first we killed. When alarmed or dying, 

 these animals give a loud cry, not unlike the bleating of a calf. 

 The female I shot was of a much lighter colour than the male, 

 and the characteristic white spots on the hind legs and face 

 were very faint. 



On the 29th we started to return to Ncloro. The night had 

 been cold and clear, and the march in the early morning fresh- 

 ness amongst the blossoming shrubs and bushes was perfectly 

 delightful. We saw numerous herds of buffaloes at a little 

 distance off, and zebras roamed by hundreds on either side of 

 our path. Wishing to give my people a good feed before we 

 got back to camp, I left them behind and went off hunting 



