The
Whole Expedition Lasted Little More Than A Couple
Of Hours.
Three of the captured zebras I kept for myself,
while the other three were given to the Surfacing
Engineer, whose men had assisted in the hunt.
Two of my three unfortunately died very shortly
after; but the third, a sturdy two-year-old,
flourished splendidly.
At first he was
exceedingly vicious, biting and kicking everyone who
approached him; indeed, he once planted both
his hind feet on my chest, but did me no serious
damage beyond throwing me heavily to the
ground. In time, however, he became very
tame and domesticated, allowing himself to be
led about by a rope and head collar, and would
drink from a bucket and eat from my hand.
He used to be left to graze picketed by a long
rope to a stake in the ground; but one
afternoon on returning to camp I found, much to
my annoyance, that he had disappeared. On
making enquiry, I learned from my servants that
a herd of wild zebra had galloped close by, and
that this had so excited him that he managed to
tear the picketing peg out of the ground and so
rejoin his brethren in freedom.
Some few days after our successful sortie
against the zebra, the great caravan of Basoga
porters returned from the coast on their way back
to their own country; but alas, with what a terrible
difference in their appearance! All their gaiety
and lightheartedness was gone, and the poor
fellows were in a pitiable state.
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