While They Were Gone, I Took A Few Men To
Beat The Low Jungle Within The Forest For Francolin Partridge,
Numbers Of Which I Had Seen Running Through The Covert.
I went up
the dry bed of the river at the junction of the Hor Gubba, while
they drove towards me, and I was compelled to fire as fast as I
could load, as these beautiful birds flew across the ravine.
I
shot five brace almost immediately. There is no better game bird
than the francolin: the flesh is white, and of a most delicate
and rich flavour. My shots had attracted the aggageers, and
shortly after my return to camp they arrived with my Arabs, as
they had been stationed on the opposite side of the Royan in a
forest within a quarter of a mile of us. Taher Sheriff was
delighted to see us free from the company of Abou Do. His party
had killed several elephants, and had captured two young ones;
also, two young rhinoceroses, three giraffes, and several young
antelopes; these were to be sold to Johann Schmidt, who
contracted to supply the Italian agent at Cassala. I agreed to
have a long day's hunt with Taher Sheriff; we were to start
before sunrise, as he wished to ride to a spot about twenty-five
miles distant, up the course of the Royan, that was a favourite
resort for elephants.
That evening we had a delicious dinner of francolin partridges.
This species is rather larger than the French partridge: it is
dark brown, mottled with black feathers, with a red mark around
the eye, and double spurs.
There was a small but deep pool of water in the bed of the river,
beneath the high bank about two hundred paces from our camp; this
was a mere hole of about twenty feet square, and I expected that
large game might come to drink during the night. Accordingly, I
determined to watch for elephants, as their tracks were numerous
throughout the bed of the river. My wife and two gun-bearers
accompanied me, and we sat behind an immense tree that grew on
the bank, exactly about the drinking place. I watched for hours,
until I fell asleep, as did my men likewise: my wife alone was
awake, and a sudden tug at my sleeve attracted my attention. The
moon was bright, and she had heard a noise upon the branches of
the tree above us: there were no leaves, therefore I quickly
observed some large animal upon a thick bough. My Tokrooris had
awoke, and they declared it to be a baboon. I knew this to be
impossible, as the baboon is never solitary, and I was just
preparing to fire, when down jumped a large leopard within a few
feet of us, and vanished before I had time to shoot. It must have
winded our party, and quietly ascended the tree to reconnoitre.
Nothing but hyaenas came to the pool, therefore we returned to
camp.
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