There Was
A Good Breeze Blowing Directly From Him, However,
So I Thought The Best Thing To Do Was To Attempt
To Get On To The Island And To Have A Shot At
Him From There.
Mahina, too, was eager for the
fray, so we let ourselves quietly into the water,
which here was quite shallow and reached only
to our knees, and waded slowly across.
On
peering cautiously through the reeds at the corner
of the island, I was surprised to find that I could
see nothing of the hippo; but I soon realised
that I was looking too far ahead, for on lowering
my eyes there he was, not twenty-five yards away,
lying down in the shallow water, only half covered
and practically facing us. His closeness to us
made me rather anxious for our safety, more
especially as just then he rose to his feet and
gave forth the peculiar challenge or call which
we had already heard so often during the night.
All 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. I warned him that he had
better be careful that a lion did not scent the
meat, as if it did it would be sure to follow up and
kill him. Of course I did not mean this seriously;
but Mabruki was a great glutton, and by no
means courageous, so I wanted to frighten him.
As we trudged along towards the hill, I heard a
peculiar noise behind a small rising on our right,
and on looking over the crest, I was delighted
to see two beautiful giraffe feeding peacefully a
little distance away and straining their long necks
to get at the tops of some mimosa-like trees, while
a young one was lying down in the grass quite
close to me. For some time I remained
concealed, watching the full-grown pair with great
interest: they had evidently just come up from
the river, and were slowly making their way back
to their home on the escarpment. They seemed
on the most affectionate terms, occasionally
entwining their great long necks and gently
biting each other on the shoulders. Much as I
should have liked to have added a giraffe to
my collection of trophies, I left them undisturbed,
as I think it a pity to shoot these rather rare and
very harmless creatures, unless one is required for
a special purpose.
We pushed on, accordingly, towards the
escarpment, for I was very impatient to get to the top
and explore a place where I felt convinced no
other white man had ever set foot. From the
river the ground rose gently upwards to the foot
of the ridge, and was covered more or less densely
with stunted trees and bushes, and of course
the inevitable "wait-a-bit" thorns. I was
fortunate enough, however, to find a rhino path
which afforded a fairly comfortable and open road,
on which we could walk upright the greater
part of the way. The climb up the escarpment
itself was a stiff one, and had to be negotiated
principally on all-fours, but on the way up I
discovered that there was an enormous cleft some
miles to the right which would probably have
afforded an easier ascent. I had not time to
explore it on this particular day, but I made
a mental note to do so on some future occasion.
After a two hours' journey from the river we sat
panting on the summit after our scramble and
surveyed the valley of the Tsavo, which lay
spread out like a map about five hundred feet
below us. Our home tents, the bridge, Tsavo
Station and other buildings were plainly visible,
and the railway itself, like a shining snake, could
be seen for many miles winding its way through
the parched wilderness. Having taken a few
photographs of the scene, we turned and struck
through the N'dungu Plateau. Here I found
the same kind of nyika as that round Tsavo, the
only difference being that there were more green
trees about. The country, moreover, was
somewhat more open, and was intersected by hundreds
of broad and well-beaten animal paths, along
which we could walk upright in comfort. I was
leading the way, followed closely by Mahina and
Mabruki, when suddenly we almost walked upon
a lion which was lying down at the side of
the path and which had probably been asleep.
It gave a fierce growl and at once bounded off
through the bush; but to Mabruki - who
doubtless recalled then the warning I had given him
in fun earlier in the day - the incident appeared
so alarming that he flung down his stick-load of
meat and fled for his life, much to the
amusement of the others, even the usually silent Wa
Kamba joining in the general laughter as they
scrambled for the discarded meat.
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