XVII 
CAMPING AT EL BOGOI 
405 
appointing. Many friends cease to write when you are far from 
regular reach of post; others write perfunctorily, as an irksome 
duty, and probably tell you about the weather ; some even say 
disagreeable things, not taking the trouble to think how un¬ 
pleasant it will be to read such productions in the loneliness 
of the remote African wilderness. 
All this has a depressing effect on a sensitive traveller, 
with the result that the reaction, after eager expectation, almost 
makes him wish he had not read these disillusioning epistles. 
Newspapers are, at all events, interesting; there is nothing 
personal about them, though they are cold comfort to the 
solitary exile. But there are other letters which it really does 
him good to read ; some have thought of the wanderer, and 
written so kindly, and with such evidently genuine good feeling, 
as to bring a grateful glow to his heart. But such are few and 
far between. From the rest he turns with relief, to listen once 
more to the familiar tongues of the never ill-natured trees, to 
study the rare books, and wish himself better qualified to 
profit by the sermons of the stones. 
Fig. A represents the best method I know of for setting a 
gun for a hyena or leopard. This trap is baited with a piece 
of sinewy meat, tied firmly over the muzzle of the gun (I have 
used a Snider carbine for the purpose), which should all but, 
though not quite, pierce the centre of the bait. It is best to 
