From the Cape to Cairo; the first traverse of Africa from south to north . HIS GREAT TKONK CAME aUIVEEING FOBWAED. TORO TO MBOGA 209 As there was just time before dark, I dashed down again, and after wadingin 3 ft. of mud, with a foot of water on the top, stumbling intoelephant-holes, pushing, fighting, and scrambling through the grass, whichcuts like a razor, I suddenly found my face within 2 ft of a great blackhide. Even at that distance I could not get a sight of his tusks, and whileI Avas hesitating (my thoughts with the big fellow I had seen going up thebank) he got my wind and thundered
From the Cape to Cairo; the first traverse of Africa from south to north . HIS GREAT TKONK CAME aUIVEEING FOBWAED. TORO TO MBOGA 209 As there was just time before dark, I dashed down again, and after wadingin 3 ft. of mud, with a foot of water on the top, stumbling intoelephant-holes, pushing, fighting, and scrambling through the grass, whichcuts like a razor, I suddenly found my face within 2 ft of a great blackhide. Even at that distance I could not get a sight of his tusks, and whileI Avas hesitating (my thoughts with the big fellow I had seen going up thebank) he got my wind and thundered off. I pushed on to the slope, andhaving climbed up about 100 ft. I found that it had been the big fellowhimself who had walked down again. Meanwhile the rest of the herdgot my wind and made off, and all the satisfaction I had was a distant. IVORY WAR-HORN, MBOGA. view of some very long white teeth climbing the opposite bank. I reachedcamp just at dusk, and found that Changera, one of the Mboga chiefs, hadcome in to see me. He is a gentlemanly savage of the old school, none of3our lying, fawning, insolent, cloth-clad abominations of mission manufac-ture, but a real, plain-spoken, unassuming old aborigine, who is pleased tosee one, and does what he can to help. His country lies between Tavarasand Kavallis, and stretches from the top of the Congo Semliki watershedto the Semliki. The following morning I went down to see how they werecutting out the tusks, and found that hordes of Balegga had swarmed downfrom the hills for the meat. A weird sight it was; stark naked savageswith long greased hair (in some cases hanging down on their shoulders)were perched on every available inch of the carcase, hacking away with 210 FROM THE CAPE TO CAIRO knives and spears, yelling, snarling, whooping, wrestling, cursing, andmunching, covered
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