176 
ON SAFARI 
morass, we eagerly plunged sli ore wards, mired up to the 
eyes, but looking forward to a few moments’ rest on terra 
jirma ere resuming the chase. But that was not to be 
our lot. Hardly had we cleared this purgatory than we 
found ourselves surrounded by a pack of hunting-dogs 
that kept bounding up among the bushes on every side. 
I tried my very hardest to kill one, but they were not 
easy to hit, so rapidly did they appear and disappear 
among the covert. Three or four shots produced no 
visible effect, though, even had one or more dogs been 
A PACK OF WILD-DOGS. 
killed, they would necessarily have dropped below our 
sight. 
“ Presently a big black-and-tan dog, coming out on an 
open, reared upright to see what was going on, and 
received a bullet in the head that dropped him ‘ all of a 
heap.’ On running forward to the kill—which involved 
a long detour and finally plunging waist-deep through a 
channel of black mire—we observed another of the pack 
limping away with a broken leg. 
‘ 4 Following on the spoor, which was easily held on 
more open ground beyond, we had just entered some 
thin wood, when Ali touched my shoulder, pointing 
forward through the trees. There, cantering back 
