CAMP LIFE 
275 
CH. Xl] 
adventures of the day, and chaffing one another with 
uproarious laughter about any small misadventure; a 
difference of opinion as to the direction of camp being 
always a subject, first for earnest discussion, and then 
for much mirth at the expense of whosoever had been 
proved to be mistaken. 
My two horses, when I did not use them, grazed 
contentedly throughout the day near the little thorn 
boma which surrounded our tents ; and at nightfall the 
friendly things came within it of their own accord to be 
given their feed of corn and be put in their own tent. 
When the sun was hot they were tormented by biting 
flies; but their work was easy, and they were well 
treated and throve. In the daytime vultures, kites, 
and white-necked ravens came round camp, and after 
nightfall jackals wailed and hyenas uttered their weird 
cries as they prowled outside the thorn walls. Twice, at 
midnight, we heard the ominous sighing or moaning of 
a hungry lion, and I looked to my rifle, which always 
stood, loaded, at the head of my bed. But on neither 
occasion did he come near us. Every night a fire was 
kept burning in the entrance to the boma, and the three 
askaris watched in turn, with instructions to call me if 
there was any need. 
I easily kept the camp supplied with meat, as I had 
anticipated that I could do. My men feasted on oryx 
and eland, while I reserved the tongues and tenderloins 
for myself. Each day I hunted for eight or ten hours, 
something of interest always happening. I would not 
shoot at the gazelles; and the game I did want was so 
shy that almost all my shots were at long range, and 
consequently a number of them did not hit. However, 
I came on my best oryx in rather thick bush, and killed 
it at a hundred and twenty-five yards, as it turned with 
