VII 
SECOND EXPEDITION 
151 
shoot, as it was too far from camp and there was always such 
a chance of losing them in this river, and it stopped when 
within a few yards of me. Of course I should have had to 
fire if it had come any nearer, but I thought it would not 
come right on and felt quite safe with my double rifle ready in 
my hand. 
The porters having come again from Mtiya’s with more loads, 
I decided to keep two or three more with me and try to make 
a “ dug-out ” to ferry us over ; for the river had not fallen at all 
during the last three days, and I did not feel inclined to simply 
wait an indefinite time. I felt the more impatient to get on 
since I seemed destined to have no luck with the elephants 
here, and was keen to proceed to my old hunting-grounds near 
the Lorogi Mountains. 
Accordingly I selected a baobab tree of suitable size, not 
far from the bank of the river, and felled it ; afterwards cutting 
off the top part and leaving a fairly straight and even trunk. 
This kind of tree is very soft and spongy, and consequently 
can be worked easily and expeditiously. I had no knowledge 
as to its suitability for the purpose of making a canoe, but felt 
pretty sure it would serve our turn, if we could only make a 
decent job of it (for neither I nor my men had had any experi¬ 
ence in naval architecture). We managed, by the aid of levers, 
to get it into a suitable position for working at. At first we 
were very clumsy with the axes, and I much regretted not 
having an adze ; but we improved with practice, and found 
a sharpened spade answered admirably to scoop out the inside, 
the soft wood working almost as easily as so much cheese. 
In four days we had so far completed it that we thought it 
would do, and began our preparations for launching our vessel, 
cutting rollers to put under it, and making paddles. 
During the progress of this work I sometimes strolled a 
little way along the banks of the river to get something for the 
pot, and shot one or two of Kirk’s tiny antelope, of which there 
were plenty, with my rook rifle. I saw the waterbuck once or 
