There Was An Immense Quantity Of Large Game, And
I Had Made A Mixed Bag Of Elephants, Hippopotami, Buffaloes,
Rhinoceros, Giraffes, And Great Numbers Of The Large Antelopes.
Lions, Although Numerous, Were Exceedingly Difficult To Bag;
There Was No Chance But The Extreme Risk Of Creeping Through The
Thickest Jungle.
Upon two or three occasions I had shot them by
crawling into their very dens, where they had dragged their prey;
and I must acknowledge that they were much more frightened of me
than I was of them.
I had generally obtained a most difficult and
unsatisfactory shot at close quarters; sometimes I rolled them
over with a mortal wound, and they disappeared to die in
impenetrable jungle; but at all times fortune was on my side. On
moonlight nights I generally lay in wait for these animals with
great patience; sometimes I shot hippopotami, and used a
hind-quarter as a bait for lions, while I watched in ambush at
about twenty yards distance; but the hyaenas generally appeared
like evil spirits, and dragged away the bait before the lions had
a chance. I never fired at these scavengers, as they are most
useful creatures, and are contemptible as game. My Arabs had made
their fortune, as I had given them all the meat of the various
animals, which they dried and transported to Geera, together with
fat, hides, &c. It would be wearying to enumerate the happy
hunting-days passed throughout this country. We were never ill
for a moment; although the thermometer was seldom below 88
degrees during the day, the country was healthy, as it was
intensely dry, and therefore free from malaria:
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