so when they had settled down to rest after a hearty meal, I thought I
would sally forth and see if I could not meet with better success. I
had gone only a short distance up the right bank of the river, when I
thought I observed a movement among the bushes ahead of me. On the
alert, I stopped instantly, and the next moment was rewarded by seeing
a splendid bush-buck advance from the water in a most stately manner. I
could only make out his head and neck above the undergrowth, but as he
was only some fifty yards off, I raised my rifle to my shoulder to
fire. This movement at once caught his eye, and for the fraction of a
second he stopped to gaze at me, thus giving me time to aim at where I
supposed his shoulder to be. When I fired, he disappeared so suddenly
and so completely that I felt sure that I had missed him, and that he
had made off through the bush. I therefore re-loaded, and advanced
carefully with the intention of following up his trail; but to my
unbounded delight I came upon the buck stretched out dead in his
tracks, with my bullet through his heart. I lost no time in getting
back to camp, the antelope swinging by his feet from a branch borne by
two sturdy coolies: and my unlucky friends were very much astonished
when they saw the fine bag I had secured in so short a time. The animal
was soon skinned and furnished us with a delicious roast for lunch; and
in the cool of the evening we made our way back to Tsavo without
further adventure.

Some little time after this, while one of these same friends (Mr. C.
Rawson) happened to be again at Tsavo, we were sitting after dark under
the verandah of my hut. I wanted something from my tent, and sent
Meeanh, my Indian chaukidar, to fetch it. He was going off in the dark
to do so, when I called him back and told him to take a lantern for
fear of snakes. This he did, and as soon as he got to the door of the
tent, which was only a dozen yards off, he called out frantically,
"Are, Sahib, burra sanp hai!" ("Oh, Master, there is a big snake here!)

"Where?" I shouted.

"Here by the bed," he cried, "Bring the gun, quickly."

I seized the shot-gun, which I always kept handy, and rushed to the
tent, where, by the light of the lantern, I saw a great red snake,
about seven feet long, gazing at me from the side of my camp-bed. I
instantly fired at him, cutting him clean in half with the shot; the
tail part remained where it was, but the head half quickly wriggled off
and di