On the morning of the second day we had difficulty in collecting porters, those of the preceding day having absconded; and others were recruited from distant villages by the native escort, who enjoyed the excuse of hunting for porters, as…
Now came the tug of war! Taher Sherrif came close to me, and said, “You had better shoot the elephant, as we shall have great difficulty in this rocky ground.” This I declined, as I wished the fight ended as…
Our great loss was Barrake. She had persisted in eating the fruit of the hegleek, although she had suffered from dysentery upon several occasions. She was at length attacked with congestion of the liver. My wife took the greatest care…
*Bokke* and her daughter were announced, and a pair of prettier savages I never saw. They were very clean; their hair was worn short, like that of all the women of the country, and plastered with red ochre and fat…
I now reloaded my rifles, and the aggageers quitted the jungle to remount their horses, as they expected the herd had broken cover on the other side of the jungle, in which case they intended to give chase, and, if…
There is only one species of rhinoceros in Abyssinia; this is the two-horned black rhinoceros, known in South Africa as the keitloa. This animal is generally five feet six inches to five feet eight inches high at the shoulder, and,…
The Governor came to my rescue, and sent immediately the promised Turkish soldiers, who were to act in the double capacity of escort and servants. They were men of totally opposite characters. Hadji Achmet was a hardy, powerful, dare-devil-looking Turk,…
Softly and with difficulty I crept forward, followed closely by my men, through the high withered grass, beneath the dense green nabbuk bushes, peering through the thick covert, with the nerves braced up to full pitch, and the finger on…
At the last moment, when the boat was about to leave the shore, two of the best men jumped in with their guns. However, the natives positively refused to start; therefore, to avoid suspicion, I ordered them to retire, but…
The discomforts of this lake voyage were great; in the day we were cramped in our small cabin like two tortoises in one shell, and at night it almost invariably rained. We were accustomed to the wet, but no acclimatization…