The night seemed endless; it was
passed in alternately walking to and fro, flapping right and left
with a towel, covering my head with a pillow-case, and gasping
for air through the button-hole, in an atmosphere insufferably
sultry.
"At length morning dawned, thank Heaven! I made a cup of strong
coffee, ate a morsel of dhurra bread, and started along the high
ground parallel with the course of the Settite river up stream.
"After walking for upwards of four hours over ground covered with
tracks of giraffes, elephants, and antelopes about a fortnight
old, I saw four tetel (Antelopus Bubalis), but I was unfortunate
in my shot at a long range in high grass. We had been marching
south-east, and as I intended to return to camp, we now turned
sharp to the west. The country was beautiful, composed of
alternate glades, copses, and low mimosa forest. At length I
espied the towering head of a giraffe about half a mile distant;
he was in the mimosa forest, and was already speculating upon our
party, which he had quickly observed. Leaving my men in this spot
to fix his attention, I succeeded in making a good stalk to
within one hundred and twenty yards of him.
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