An Afrikander’s Journal 
By JOHN A. M. LETHBRIDGE 
IV.—Trekking Toward the Clephant Country 
and a Mixed Bag Along the Way 
A t Kalomo I was laid up with a very bad 
attack of fever, and for some time I 
was very ill, but thanks to the kind¬ 
ness and attention of some whites, I pulled 
through. When I took to my bed my weight 
was i86 pounds and when I got up, 130 pounds, 
and I was so weak that it was with great diffi¬ 
culty I could get about at all. In a very short 
time, however, I began to regain my strength 
and weight and to plan another trip. 
It was my idea to work up toward North¬ 
eastern Rhodesia, taking it very easy, until 
I was again quite fit. I had with me two sad¬ 
dle horses and my dogs, three pointers, one 
Airedale and two deer hounds. Two of the 
pointers were very savage and I had to be 
careful with them, as they would tackle a native 
without the slightest provocation. The third 
was an old dog of no earthly use as a pointer. 
None of them were broken dogs, but they 
would run a wounded buck like a hound. It 
was necessary, however, always to keep them 
on a leash as. if they saw game, nothing would 
keep them from running in. However, they 
were very useful, especially around the camp 
at night. I had only fifteen boys with me, in¬ 
cluding porters, and I wanted, if possible, to 
get to the elephant country. 
We traveled slowly, not doing more than ten 
to twelve miles a day, and during the march 
I spent the time hunting, and on my return to 
camp usually found everything ready and com¬ 
fortable and a zareba already built for the 
hors£.«. It was necessary to shoot a good 
deal of game to keep the boys in food, as when 
there was plenty of meat it was my rule not 
to give out so many mealies, and my stock of 
this needful commodity was none too large and 
had to be saved. Game was fairly plentiful, 
especially wildebeeste and hartebeeste, and 
after marching for ten days we came to a mag¬ 
nificent game country. The rolling hills had 
plenty of large timber, but not too thick. You 
could easily see one hundred to one hundred 
and fifty yards ahead of you. There was abund¬ 
ance of water and here I made a stay of three 
days to rest myself and the boys. 
One morning, on starting out with two boys 
and the dogs in leash, it was my intention to 
make a long round to explore the surrounding 
country and see what there was to be seen. 
The first game I spotted were three waterbuck, 
but as they are not particularly good eating, 
and I had the whole day before me, I let them 
alone, but got very near them before they 
learned of my presence, when they very quickly 
disappeared, whereupon the dogs made noise 
enough to scare all the game in the neighbor¬ 
hood, and so I told the boys not to keep so 
close to me, but to follow, just keeping me in 
sight. 
I rode slowly along, keeping close to the 
bank of what was a river in the rainy season, 
but was now only a dry bed, with occasional 
large, deep pools. The sun was very hot, and 
I kept a sharp lookout for crocodiles. These 
animals to my mind are certainly the worst ot 
all African pests. You cannot let a dog run 
loose, for when he gets hot and thirsty, he goes 
into the first pool he comes across, and the 
odds are no more dog. One can never be 
certain where these brutes may happen to be 
lying, as they often travel long distances on 
land and again will remain in one pool for 
months, only coming up in the heat of the day 
for a bask. I hate and fear them more than 
any wild animal, as on several occasions their 
attacks have been disastrous to me and mine. 
Eventually I killed them, but though revenge 
is sweet, it does not recompense for the loss of 
a valuable animal or a human being. 
I was going along quietly, when out of some 
reeds jumped a splendid reedbuck. I had my 
rifle slung on my back, but it did not take me 
long to dismount and unsling it. By that time 
the buck was a good distance off, but sitting 
down, I fired and heard my bullet strike, and 
after going a few yards further, he dropped. I 
measured the distance and found it 320 yards. 
It is not often I indulge in long shots, but in 
this case I felt that I could not miss. This was 
the largest reedbuck I ever saw, and one might 
hunt for twenty years and never equal it. 
I sometimes think I am lucky. Twenty-two 
years ago in Jackson’s Hole, Wyoming—when 
there was game there—I shot a pronghorn, the 
largest I have ever seen. The old guide who 
was with me, a.greed that he had never seen one 
larger, and added, “You may hunt all your life 
and perhaps equal it; but you will never beat it.” 
Wo cut down a small tree, slung the buck, 
and the two boys returned with it to camp. 
taking the dogs with them, and after resting 
and smoking a pipe, I remounted and went on. 
Leaving the stream on my left, I came to a 
large open viei and here was a perfect sight, 
sable, roan, zebra, wildebeeste, hartebeeste, all 
together in one large herd. It is a curious but 
common thing, to find all these buck herded 
together, but the hartebeeste generally seem to 
be the sentinels. Amon.g them were two good 
roan bulls, but no large sable, and after con¬ 
sidering for a few minutes, I let them alone, 
making up my mind to return the first thing in 
the morning, as if I shot a roan bull, it would 
be too late by the time I got back to camp to 
send out boys to carry in the meat, and by the 
next day it would be spoilt. Parts of the vlei 
were very boggy, and there were several large 
water holes which were very much used. This 
was apparently a very favorite haunt, and a 
certain find in the early morning or evening. 
Turning back into the timber, I was making 
the best of my way to camp, when I ran across 
a large sounder of pigs. These I would not 
leave alone, and after a short stalk, picked out 
a boar with a decent pair of tusks and rolled 
him over; the rest, large and small, going off 
as fast as they could lay their legs to the ground 
with their tails straight up in the air. For a 
short distance they can run, and it takes a good 
horse to overtake them. I regretted not hav¬ 
ing the deer hounds with me, as the ground 
was open and they could have had a gooa 
course. What the result would have been I 
cannot say; in all probability a dead dog, as 
these pigs are very quick and savage, and thejr 
tusks are as sharp as knives. 
Tying my handkerchief to a stick, which I 
stuck into the ground by the pig, I returned to 
camp and sent out boys to bring the meat in. 
but by the time they arrived, they found the 
vultures had already found the carcass, and 
in spite of the handkerchief, had commenced 
their feast. These birds are simply wonderful. 
When you shoot an animal,, the sky may be 
perfectly clear of them. In a few minutes there 
are a few black specks visible, these soon de¬ 
velop into birds, and then down they come 
from all sides. Some people say they smell the 
blood, but this seems incredible; perhaps, al¬ 
though out of sight of the human eye, they are 
lazily soaring about, thousands of feet up in 
the skies, watching, and the moment they see 
anything, down they swoop. 
The next morning I returned to the vlei but 
for some time could not see a thing, but a 
little later spotted a lone wildebeeste at the 
far end. Generally when you see a lone animal, 
you are pretty sure to find it is an old bull, and 
this occasion proved no exception to the rule. 
He was on the alert, however, and it took a 
long stalk to get within 200 yards of him. 
Closer it was impossible to approach, and 
