CHAP. Ill 



TRAVELS IN EASTERN AFRICA 



77 



desire for sport ; but even then we had not been guilty 

 of any unnecessary slaughter of game ; for what we shot 

 had been eaten by our men, so that the brute lives we 

 ■ sacrificed went to increase the vitality of human beings 

 who stood much in need of it. 



Bearing in mind the necessity of being fully pre- 

 pared not only to slay game for the pot, but also in 

 self-defence, to check the rush of dangerous animals, 

 we had expended much time and forethought on the 

 formation of our battery. Upon his former journey 

 Lieutenant von Hohnel had used with great success 

 an eight-bore express rifle ; and although I, on account 

 of its weight and the poor results I achieved with 

 large weapons, was prejudiced against the express rifle, 

 we took with us one of these weapons, made by 

 Messrs. Holland & Holland, of New Bond Street, Lon- 

 don. We also had three .577 express rifles and one 

 .500 from the same makers. 



During my former journey George had achieved ex- 

 cellent results upon antelope and thin-skinned animals 

 with a .45/90 Winchester, and I had used this weapon, 

 and found it perfectly satisfactory, upon a shooting-trip 

 to the Rockies; therefore we took with us three Win- 

 chesters. Having armed the Soudanese with the Mann- 

 licher repeating rifles, we decided to equip ourselves with 

 these also, in the hope that they might prove useful as 

 sporting rifles; though, because of the size of the bullet, 

 we had little faith that they would prove successful. 



All the bullets for the express rifles were hardened 

 with a certain proportion of tin, and we took with us 

 for use with the .577 express rifles 100 or more car- 

 tridges having a steel core surrounded with soft lead. 



