It Was Now Late In The Evening, And I Had Had A Long Day's
Work In The Broiling Sun.
I had bagged ten buffaloes, including the
calf, and having cut a fillet from the latter, I took a gun, loaded with
shot, from my horse-keeper, and gave up ball-shooting, having turned my
attention to a large flock of teal, which I had disturbed in attacking
the buffaloes.
This flock I had marked down in a small stream which
flowed into the lake. A cautious approach upon my hands and knees,
through the grass, brought me undiscovered to the bank of the stream,
where, in a small bay, it emptied itself into the lake, and a flock of
about eighty teal were swimming among the water-lilies within twenty
yards of me. I fired one barrel on the water, and the other in the air
as they rose, killing five and wounding a sixth, which escaped by
continual diving. On my way home I killed a few snipe, till at length
the cessation of daylight put an end to all shooting.
The moon was full and shone over the lake with great brilliancy; the air
was cool and refreshing after the great heat of the day; and the chirp
of the snipe and whistling sound of the wild fowl on the lake were the
only noises that disturbed the wild scene around. The tent fires were
blazing brightly in the forest at about a mile distant; and giving my
gun to the horse-keeper, I mounted and rode towards the spot.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 135 of 343
Words from 35672 to 35933
of 91283
