Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Get National Geographic Readers Animal Architects L3 Libby Romero PDF Full Chapter
Get National Geographic Readers Animal Architects L3 Libby Romero PDF Full Chapter
https://ebookmeta.com/product/national-geographic-kids-readers-
alexander-hamilton-l3-libby-romero/
https://ebookmeta.com/product/national-geographic-readers-what-
is-an-archaeologist-l3-libby-romero/
https://ebookmeta.com/product/national-geographic-readers-albert-
einstein-libby-romero/
https://ebookmeta.com/product/national-geographic-readers-
vikings-l2-libby-romero/
National Geographic Readers Skyscrapers Level 3 Libby
Romero
https://ebookmeta.com/product/national-geographic-readers-
skyscrapers-level-3-libby-romero/
https://ebookmeta.com/product/national-geographic-readers-
animals-that-change-color-l2-libby-romero/
https://ebookmeta.com/product/national-geographic-readers-
wolverines-l3-melissa-stewart/
https://ebookmeta.com/product/national-geographic-readers-buzz-
aldrin-l3-kitson-jazynka/
https://ebookmeta.com/product/national-geographic-readers-ruth-
bader-ginsburg-l3-rose-davidson/
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
alert, though fortunately nothing untoward happened. Next morning
we struck camp, and wandered up the river, camping again before
the sun was well above the horizon. This programme was repeated
for the following six days.
During this time we received almost daily reports from Ismail by
the hands of special messengers. These reports were couched in his
usual vacillating terms. One day he would send word that he was
coming on the following day with his safari for the purpose of
accompanying us back to Kenia, while the next message would state
that he had determined to buy more camels and go north to
Marsabit. We did not alter our six-day programme, but marched
slowly on.
For one thing, we had great difficulty in feeding the men, game
being scarce. We were naturally unwilling to kill sheep for food
except as a last resource, but turned our attention instead to
shooting.
On the afternoon of the third day I was lucky enough to hear from
a party of Burkeneji that a few giraffe were in the neighbourhood. I
saddled up the big mule, and, taking the Martini, sallied forth,
accompanied by a couple of men.
After a ten-mile tramp in a direction almost at right angles to the
river, I discovered a herd of seven or eight giraffe quietly feeding at
the base of a hill half a mile distant. I dismounted and examined
them through the binoculars. They had not observed me, but there
was no possible chance of my reaching them from where I was, as
the plain was quite open between us, and, in addition, I was dead
up-wind. Leaving the mule in charge of the two men, I made a long
détour on foot, which occupied me nearly an hour. Finally, by careful
stalking, taking advantage of every scrap of cover afforded by
dongas and thorn-bush, I got to leeward of them and about 250
yards distant. There was a gentle dip in the ground between myself
and my proposed quarry; I had reached a point on the summit of the
rise, while they were halfway up the slope on the opposite bank. In
spite of all my care, they were evidently aware of the presence of
danger, though they had not as yet located it. As they showed an
inclination to stampede, I determined, unsportsmanlike as it was, to
risk a long shot. I picked out the largest bull I could see and banged
off at him. They immediately made off, and though I had distinctly
heard the thud of my bullet, I saw no sign of weakness on the part of
the beast I had hit. They galloped away to the top of the opposite
rise, and from there sighted the two men with the mule. They
doubled sharply back, and bore down straight for the spot where I
was glued to the earth behind a small tuft of grass. When they had
approached to within thirty yards, they became aware of my
presence and turned off to my left. As they did so, the old bull gave
me a capital shoulder shot, of which I was not slow to take
advantage. He seemed to take no notice whatever of it, but, to my
great disappointment, disappeared with the others among the trees
which covered the lower slopes of a small hill on my left. I set off in
chase, but before I had gone many yards I heard the crash of a
heavy body, breaking trees and branches in its fall. Hurrying to the
spot, I found my giraffe, dead. There were two wounds in its body,
one in the stomach, evidently my first shot, and the other fairly
through the shoulder. I found, on cutting the beast up, that my
second bullet had smashed through the shoulder-blade and ribs, and
then, having been slightly flattened, had passed clean through the
heart, tearing a great hole in that organ, and then passing through
the ribs and shoulder-blade on the opposite side, it lodged under the
skin, where it formed a small lump, which was distinctly visible from
the outside.
In spite of the extensive nature of its injuries, the stricken giraffe
had galloped over a hundred yards without giving any sign that it
was hurt. With regard to the injuries themselves, I do not think the
most expensive express rifle made would have done better. Certainly
the Martini is a wonderfully useful all-round weapon.
As my two men with the mule had not turned up by the time I had
concluded my examination of the giraffe, I went to look for them.
They were not on the spot where I left them, neither could I get any
answer from them, though I shouted myself hoarse. I therefore made
my way back to the small hill I have mentioned and climbed to the
summit. From there I got an extended view of the country, but
nevertheless I could not see a sign of the men. I shouted, but my
voice was lost in space. I had a syren whistle with which I was in the
habit of summoning the men; but though I hooted and screamed
through it like the cry of a lost tug-boat, nothing resulted.
I gazed round the empty landscape with a feeling akin to
desperation. The sun was sinking fast, and I stood a very good
chance of passing the night ten miles from camp and supper, alone
on the hillside with the body of the giraffe. Once more I wailed on the
syren whistle, but there was no answer beyond the chirrup of a
frightened bird.
At length I saw them loafing around about 800 yards away. I
redoubled my shouting and whistling, but they did not seem to hear
me. As a last resource, I laid down, and, taking aim with the Martini,
planked a bullet in the sand within fifty yards of them. Their attention
was immediately aroused, and they gazed about trying to locate my
direction. Another shot gave them the information they required, and
they immediately started to rejoin me. Leaving one man safely
ensconced in the branches of a tree as a guard over the giraffe, I
returned with the other to camp, which I did not reach till long after
night had fallen.
On arrival, I despatched half a dozen men, with water and the
means of lighting a fire, to guard the dead giraffe from the hyænas,
and possibly lions. Barri, I found, had returned to our camp and
thrown himself on our mercy. He was informed that he might be
perfectly easy in his mind, as we should not give him up to Ismail on
any account, for which consideration he was extremely grateful.
During the night we were troubled again by lions, who prowled round
the camp, doubtless attracted by the sheep.
We moved up the river a little further on the following morning,
and, camping early, sent the majority of the men to cut up the giraffe.
We found the meat horribly tough and tasteless, but we struggled
with it somehow. Even the men did not take kindly to it. The marrow
bones, which were very large, we first roasted over a fire, and then,
breaking them with an iron bar, ate their rich marrows with a
teaspoon. It was very well flavoured, and much appreciated.
On the opposite bank of the Waso Nyiro was a small village of
mixed Rendili and Burkeneji, the elders of which paid us a visit
during the course of the day. They brought us four sheep as a
present, and in return we gave them the remainder of our stock of
beads and some cloths, with which they were delighted. They left us
in the evening, and as a special honour, and to secure them from the
attacks of crocodiles while crossing the river, El Hakim lit a blue flare,
and giving it to the awestruck chief, he and his followers departed. It
was very amusing to see the way the chief held it. He was half afraid
of it, but did not care to show as much before his followers, so he
held it at arm’s length, shuddering with apprehension every time it
dropped a few sparks.
On the morning of September 29th, it being the sixth day
subsequent to Ismail’s accident, we considered our obligation to
linger in the district at an end. Scarcely had we come to that decision
when a messenger from Ismail brought word that the Somalis had
finally decided to go north to Marsabit. On hearing this message, we
sent our blessing to Ismail, which, I expect, got the messenger into
trouble—that is, if he ventured to deliver it, which I doubt—and we
started for M’thara in earnest. We passed the hill which had
occasioned George and myself so much trouble on our journey down
the river, passing between it and the river by a narrow path which
wound round its southern scarp. We halted at a boma that we found
near the river, which had been built by Ismail on his journey to the
Rendili.
The men reported a hippo in a pool some way up the river, and we
accordingly went forth to slay it. We found the pool at the lower end
of the rapids, which extend from the foot of the Chanler Falls for
nearly a mile below. We found the hippo there, and George banged
at it with the 8-bore. It was the first time this weapon had been used
during the trip, and George, being unfamiliar with the sighting,
missed the brute’s brain, merely drilling a hole in its skull and
stunning it. It never gave us another chance, so we had to leave the
pool without our hippo.
On the way back to camp we sighted two giraffe on the other side
of the river, which were coming down to the water’s edge to drink. I
took a shot at 200 yards with the ·303 and wounded the foremost,
which immediately dashed away, followed by its companion. Being
unwilling to let it go, I jumped into the river, which, though the current
was very swift, was at that point not more than four feet in depth.
Followed by two or three of the men, I waded across and resumed
the chase of the wounded giraffe. I found it a few hundred yards
further on, and planked another solid bullet into it, which had the
effect of once more starting it off at a gallop.
This went on for a mile or two, the giraffe stopping every now and
then for a rest, and on receiving another shot, making off again.
Finally it forced its way into a patch of thick bush interlaced with a
large number of prize specimens of the terrible wait-a-bit thorn. I did
not attempt to penetrate this bush in like manner, but went round it
instead, seeking for a more favourable entrance. While doing so, I
heard the familiar crash of a falling body, and being then satisfied
that my quarry had at last succumbed, I attempted to retrace my
footsteps.
In the excitement of the chase I had carelessly neglected to take
any bearings, leaving that part of the business to the men who
accompanied me when I dashed across the river. When I turned to
speak to them, I found that not one of them was near. The long
chase not being to their liking, they had turned and sneaked back
long before. Two little A’kikuyu boys had alone remained, so I
directed them to take me back to camp by the shortest route. They
protested they did not know the way, however, so I was compelled to
take the lead and to try to find it myself.
It was fast growing dusk, and as I hurried on I pictured to myself
the discomforts attendant on a night passed in the fork of a tree. I
was once lost in the bush for twenty-four hours while after sable
antelope in Mashonaland, and I had no wish to repeat the
experience. After an hour of climbing and scrambling, I once more
reached the river, but alas! at a point far below our camp. The river
at this place flowed through numerous narrow channels between
great boulders of pink gneiss, and it seemed as if there would be a
possibility of crossing by jumping from rock to rock, though it was
rather a dangerous proceeding, the rocks being rendered as smooth
and polished as glass by the constant action of the water. However, I
stripped and attempted the crossing. When I say I stripped, I mean
that I removed my boots and socks, as I had not much else on in the
way of clothing; a thin cotton vest, and a coloured cloth worn
petticoat-wise, completing as airy and cool a costume as one could
wish for in that beautiful climate. I slipped and fell once or twice,
though fortunately I sustained no injury, and half an hour later I
reached camp, tired but happy, and dined sumptuously on a guinea-
fowl.
At daylight the following morning we sent the men to cut up the
giraffe; but they returned in an hour, saying that they were unable to
find it. Judging from the way they complained of the other one I shot,
I do not think they were over-anxious to do so.
Setting off once more on our march up the river, we camped soon
after midday, and sent men out to search for game. Presently one
man returned with the report that a solitary hippo was disporting itself
in a rocky pool a little distance away. We adjourned to the spot, and
on our arrival sat down to watch. In a moment or two a faint ripple
disturbed the surface of the water, and under an overhanging rock
on the opposite side of the pool appeared two red nostrils covered
with coarse black hair. We held our breath and waited. In about
twenty seconds they disappeared as suddenly and as silently as
they had come into view. We waited for over an hour in the hope that
the brute would expose its head and thus give us an opportunity for
a decisive shot. But nothing occurred beyond the periodical
appearance and disappearance of the nostrils on the water-line to
indicate the presence of the huge body below. At length, as the head
did not emerge, we held a whispered consultation, and El Hakim and
I decided to cross the river in the hope of obtaining a shot from the
opposite bank, leaving George on the look-out. We accordingly
made our way down-stream to where the river, running over gravel
banks, became shallower. Stripping to our shirts, we waded across
breast-deep. Arrived on the other side, we cautiously made our way
to a spot opposite George, and directly above the place where the
hippo came to the surface to breathe. Half an hour passed while we
stood still and silent as statues, with our soaked shirts flapping round
our bare legs. Suddenly, unnoticed by George and myself, the hippo
came to the surface a little further out in the pool. El Hakim, however,
saw it instantly, and quick as thought sent a ·577 bullet through its
head. He had not time to place the rifle to his shoulder, and in
consequence his finger was torn by the heavy recoil. He succeeded,
however, in his object, which was either to kill or momentarily stun
the hippo. Presently the water in the pool became violently agitated,
and soon the immense beast rolled over on the surface, and I
immediately gave it its quietus with a bullet through its brain.
Our waiting men gave vent to a yell of delight, and rushed down to
secure the carcase; but, to their dismay, before they could reach it
the current washed it away and wedged it tightly between two rocks
at the top of the small waterfall which gave exit to the pool. The
pressure of the water on the body was very great, but the men
needed food so badly that we made the most Herculean efforts to
dislodge it by the aid of ropes and poles. After an hour’s hard work,
we managed to free it, only to be thrown into the utmost
consternation by the body sinking immediately to the bottom of the
next pool. The men flatly refused to go into the water to look for it, as
there were all sorts of queer holes in the rocks into which one could
have been washed by the current and crushed or drowned, and in
addition, there was the ever-present fear of crocodiles.
We sounded with poles till our arms ached, and were about to give
up in despair when one or two of the men, bolder or more hungry
than their fellows, jumped in and attempted to dive. Suddenly one of
them came to the surface with a joyful shout, saying he had found
the carcase at the bottom of the pool in ten feet of water. We gave
him the end of a stout line in order that he might dive again and
make it fast to one of the feet. This he attempted to do, but after
repeated trials he confessed himself beaten.
There being no other help for it, I undertook the task myself, and at
the third attempt, after a lot of manœuvring in the swift current, I
succeeded in making the line fast round one of the legs just above
the foot. Success at last seemed certain, and by dint of pulling gently
on the line, we at length raised the body slowly to the surface. The
excited men raised a shout of joy, which died away in a wail of bitter
disappointment as the frail rope parted and the hippo sank once
more to the bottom of the pool. I was by this time almost exhausted
and shivering with cold, but again I essayed the task of making the
rope fast, and eventually succeeded, and at length, by steady and
persistent pulling on the untrustworthy line, we drew the body ashore
just as the dusk fell.
The men at once set to work with their knives, and very shortly the
cooking-pots were bubbling merrily away, and our hungry followers
proceeded to gorge themselves on the meat; a congenial occupation
which commanded their earnest attention until the early hours of the
following morning.
FOOTNOTES:
[16] The Bongo of the Bahr el Ghazal also bury their dead in
the sitting position, covering the body with logs and branches
instead of stones.
CHAPTER XVII.
ARRIVAL AT M’THARA.