222 
THE KILIMA NJARO EXPEDITION 
of tramping miles and miles through thorns and over 
sharp rocks, under a blazing sun, in search of a vigilant 
quarry, here you await him in numbers, seated at your 
ease, in the cool night air, able to take careful aim, and 
safe from any nasty display of spite on the part of your 
wounded victims. Undoubtedly my opinion was the 
right one from an epicurean point of view, provided 
that all the elements of the combination were present; 
but just as the best place in a theatre would be worth¬ 
less in front of an empty stage, so all my elaborate 
preparations for a grand battue of big game were of 
little use when the expected animals did not arrive. 
Slowly the night wore on. The moon, just past her 
prime, rose late, and changed gradually from a coppery 
red to a yellow white as she mounted higher and higher, 
bringing by degrees a lesser day to bear upon the 
scene. Gazing out from under the branches to the 
open plain, I could distinguish ghostly forms, devoid 
of colour and substantiality, flitting here and there, 
objectless and restless—hyenas, probably, seeking stray 
fragments of carrion. Now and then the singing, mono¬ 
tonous chorus of the cicadas and tree-frogs was momen¬ 
tarily interrupted and again resumed, or varied by the 
shrill chanting of a soloist, or temporarily overborne 
by the faint, distant booming of a lion’s roar ; otherwise 
nothing interrupted the solemn quietude of the night. 
Half sitting, half reclining on my tree-percli, my 
limbs soon stiffened with the unchanged posture, and 
I grew chilly with inaction. The night breeze blow¬ 
ing over the snows of Kilima-njaro sent tremors of cold 
through my body; I sought a more comfortable posi¬ 
tion, and a better arrangement of my rug. In doing 
so a slight creaking and rustling of the boughs was 
caused, and I was startled to hear from the other side 
of the water a sudden outbreak of strange, half-human 
