upon me, entangling themselves in my long beard
and whiskers, crawling over my body, down my neck,
and up my sleeping drawers, until I was swarming
with them; the bugs upon being handled squashed
like lumps of butter, and emitted a perfume that was
unbearable. The night seemed endless; it was passed
in alternately walking to and fro, flapping right and
left, with a towel, covering my head with a pillowcase,
and gasping for air through the button-hole, in
an atmosphere insufferably sultry.
“At length morning dawned, thank Heaven! I
made a cup of strong coffee, ate a morsel of dhurra
bread, and started along the high ground parallel
with the course of the Settite river up stream.
“ After walking for upwards of four hours over
ground covered with tracks of giraffes, elephants,
and antelopes about a fortnight old, I saw four
tetel (Antelope Bubalis), but I was unfortunate in
my shot at a long range in high grass. We had
been marching south-east, and as I intended to return
to camp, we now turned sharp to the west.
The country was beautiful, composed of alternate
glades, copses, and low mimosa forest. At length I
espied the towering head of a giraffe at about half-
a mile distant; he was in the mimosa forest, and was
already speculating upon our party, which he had
quickly observed. Leaving my men in this spot to fix
his attention, I succeeded in making a good stalk to
within one hundred and twenty yards of him. He was
exactly facing me, and I waited for him to turn and
expose the flank, but he suddenly turned so quickly that
I lost the opportunity, and he received the bullet in
his back as he started at full speed; for the moment'
he reeled crippled among the mimosas, but, recovering,
he made off. I could not fire O7 the left hand barrel
on account of the numerous trees and bushes. I called
my men, and followed for a few hundred yards
upon his track, but as this was directly in an opposite
direction to that of my camp I was forced to
give up the hunt.*
“ About an hour later I hit a tetel with both
barrels of the little Fletcher, at full gallop; but
although we followed the blood-track for some dis-
tance, we did not recover it. At this season the
grass is in most places from seven to ten feet high,
and being trodden by numerous old tracks of animals
it is difficult to find a wounded beast without
the assistance of a dog. The luck was against me
to-day; I could only shoot well enough to hit
everything, but to bag nothing, owing to a sleepless
night. I killed a guinea-fowl to secure dinner
upon my return, and we at length reached the welcome
Atbara within two miles of my head-quarters.
My men made a rush to the river, and threw themselves
into the water, as all were more or less exhausted
by the intense heat of the long day’s work
after a restless night. I took a good drink through
my gazelle shank bone, which I wear suspended
from my neck for that purpose, and I went on
* We found the remains of the giraffe a few days later.