The same, as he raised his head, I fired at it.
He whirled round, made a plunge forward,
staggered and fell, and then lay quite still. To
make assurance doubly sure, I gave him a couple
more bullets as he lay, but we found afterwards
that they were not needed, as my first shot had
been a very lucky one and had penetrated
the brain. We left him where he fell and got
back to our perch, glad and relieved to be in
safety once more.
As soon as it was daylight we were joined by
my own men and by several Wa Kamba, who
had been hunting in the neighbourhood. The
natives cut out the tusks of the hippo, which
were rather good ones, and feasted ravenously
on the flesh, while I turned my attention with
gratitude to the hot coffee and cakes which
Mabruki had meanwhile prepared.
CHAPTER XIII
A DAY ON THE N'DUNGU ESCARPMENT
Immediately after breakfast camp was struck,
and accompanied by a few of the Wa Kamba, we
started off for the N'dungu Escarpment - a
frowning ridge which runs for a great distance parallel
to the Sabaki, some three or four miles from
its northern bank. We had not gone very far
before I caught sight of a fine waterbuck and
successfully bowled him over - a good omen for
the day, which put us all in excellent spirits.
Mabruki cut off several strips of the tough meat
and impaled them on a sharp stick to dry in the
sun as he went along.
