Settite; some of these gorges were ornamented with the
dark foliage of large tamarind trees, while upon rocks that did
not appear to offer any sustenance, the unsightly yet mighty
baobab* grasped with its gnarled roots the blocks of granite, and
formed a peculiar object in the wild and rugged scenery.
* The largest baobab (Adansonia digitata) that I have
measured was fifty-one feet and one inch in circumference.
Through this romantic wilderness, the Settite flowed in a clear
and beautiful stream, sometimes contracted between cliffs to a
width of a hundred yards, at others stretching to three times
that distance. The hippopotami were in great numbers; many were
lying beneath the shady trees upon the banks, and splashed into
the water as we appeared; others were basking in large herds upon
the shallows; while the young calves, supported upon the backs of
their mothers, sailed about upon their animated rafts in perfect
security. The Base had been here recently, as we discovered their
footprints upon the sand, and we arrived at some tobacco
plantations that they had formed upon the sandbanks of the river.
The aggageers expressed their determination to sabre them should
we happen to meet, and were much displeased at my immediately
placing a veto upon their bloody intentions, with a reservation
for necessity in self-defence.
The Base were far too wide awake, and, although seen once during
the day by my people, they disappeared like monkeys; their spies
had doubtless reported our movements ever since we had entered
their country, and, fearing the firearms, they had retreated to
their fastnesses among the mountains.
During the day's march we had seen a large quantity of game, but
I had not wished to shoot until on our return towards the camp.
We were about four miles from home, when a nellut (A.
Strepsiceros) bounded away from a ravine. I was riding Tetel,
whom I had taught to stand fire, in which he was remarkably
steady. I made a quick shot with the little Fletcher from the
saddlle; but, as the nellut ran straight before me, the bullet
struck the haunch: away went the aggageers after the wounded
animal, like greyhounds, and in a few hundred yards the sword
finished the hunt.
The Nellut is the handsomest of all the large antelopes; the male
is about thirteen hands high, and carries a pair of beautiful
spiral horns, upwards of three feet in length; the colour of the
hide is a dark mouse-grey, ornamented with white stripes down the
flanks, and a white line along the back from the shoulder to the
tail. The female is without horns, but is in other respects
similar to the male. These beautiful animals do not inhabit the
plains like the other varieties of antelopes, but are generally
found in deep-wooded ravines.
