3H 
ELEPHANT-HUNTING IN EAST AFRICA 
CHAP. 
bait for a gun which I had offered to set. By this time it had 
all been eaten, so I was unable to lay a trap then. 
Bawdo, a younger brother of the chief and a friend of mine, 
brought word that afternoon that elephants were damaging the 
crops on the other side of the river ; so it was arranged that he 
should come first thing next morning to take me to hunt for 
them. Accordingly at sunrise I started with him and my 
usual attendants. I did not like the ferrying in a crank and 
wobbly canoe : I am no sailor, and confess I do not feel safe in 
such a craft, with my clothes and boots on, and over a deep 
and dark river below whose smooth surface I know lurk 
monstrous crocodiles in numbers, voracious and hungry. But 
Bawdo was expert with his pole, used either to punt or paddle 
according to the depth of the water. He was a fine athletic 
savage, tall and lithe, and looked quite a model in ebony as he 
stood in the stern of his dug-out, pole in hand, plying it 
vigorously, now on this side and now on that. Our quest was 
fruitless as far as elephants were concerned. We followed the 
spoor of a small herd of cows a long distance, but then found 
the footprints of some natives following it ahead of us, so it 
was useless going farther. 
On the way back we came across a small herd of topi antelope. 
I got a nice shot and knocked over two (bull and cow) with my 
.303. Bawdo, who had never seen anything shot before, was 
much impressed at seeing each tumble over a few yards from 
where it had received the bullet, and examined the tiny holes 
(particularly those of egress) with evident emotion. f was 
glad that he, an important and noted warrior, had witnessed 
this practical demonstration of the power of our weapons ; 
because I had heard that some of the young men of Kere had 
made contemptuous remarks about firearms as compared with 
spears for fighting purposes, and did not doubt that his report 
would have a salutary effect. We pulled the two “ topis ” under 
a tree, and I left a man to commence skinning, while we 
returned to camp and sent others to carry in the meat It 
