In truth after their severe
toil and adventures in the forest, this method of journeying proved
quite luxurious. Except for a rapid here and there over or round which
the canoe must be dragged, the river was broad and the scenery on its
banks park-like and beautiful. Moreover the country, perhaps owing
to the appetites of the Ogula, appeared to be practically uninhabited
except by vast herds of every sort of game.
All day they sat in the canoe which the stalwart rowers propelled, in
silence for the most part, since they were terribly afraid of the white
man, and still more so of the renowned fetish which they knew he carried
with him. Then when evening came they moored their craft to the bank
and camped till the following morning. Nor did they lack for food, since
game being so plentiful, it was only necessary for Alan to walk a few
hundred yards and shoot a fat eland, or hartebeest, or other buck
which in its ignorance of guns would allow him to approach quite close.
Elephants, rhinoceros, and buffalo were also common, while great herds
of giraffe might be seen wandering between the scattered trees, but as
they were not upon a hunting trip and their ammunition was very limited,
with these they did not interfere.
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