crocodile, who, swimming by, had taken a fancy to have one of
us for his lunch. We shouted loudly; he beat a retreat, looking out,
while passing slowly on, for any unwary duck or other wildfowl floating
calmly on the smooth water.

"We must keep our promise and get as many birds as we can," said
Charley; "so come along. It will be as well, however, not to separate,
for we may fall in with a lion or leopard, or a herd of elephants. We
ought to be ready to support each other."

Harry and I of course agreed to this. We were very successful, and in
the course of a couple of hours had shot three dozen ducks. Our
difficulty, however, was to preserve them. Even though we hung them up
on the boughs of trees, the ants would manage to get at them, or birds
of prey were likely to carry them off, or, unless they were placed at a
considerable distance from the ground, a leopard or other wild animal
might do so; while it was necessary to look out for a shady spot, or
they would have become uneatable before the following day. We
accordingly set to work and made some baskets of vines, interwoven with
thick leaves, which would protect them from all other creatures with the
exception of the ants. This occupied us two hours or more, and we
agreed that it would be useless to expend a further amount of powder.
We then cooked a duck apiece, and the remainder of the roots and nuts
which Shimbo had left us.

After dinner we went down to the lake to look out for the canoes,
thinking that by this time Aboh might be returning; but none were to be
seen as far as our eyes could reach over the surface of the water. We,
therefore, walked along under the shade of the trees, though at a safe
distance to avoid danger from the sudden rush of a crocodile. After we
had gone some way, we caught sight of a beautiful deer gazing into the
waters of the lake, apparently admiring itself, and occasionally
stooping down to draw up a mouthful. Retiring behind the trees, we
advanced cautiously, hoping to get a shot, and to add the creature to
our larder. I was ahead, and having got well within distance, had just
raised my rifle, and was on the point of drawing my trigger, when I was
startled by seeing a huge crocodile literally leap out of the water, and
then, like a flash of lightning, spring back again, holding the
unfortunate deer struggling violently in its tremendous jaws. I fired,
but my bullet glanced off the side of the scaly monster, which
d