“As I had still a long distance to walk before arriving at the spot most frequented by the Nakon, and as I desired to be there at least an hour before sundown (this, or shortly after daylight in the morning, being the only time at which a fair chance of a shot could be obtained), without making any delay, I at once entered the swamp, and for the first half-hour waded knee-deep in water, caused by a late overflow from the Taoke river, and my progress, although very tiring, was at least endurable. Resting for about twenty minutes on a small dry knoll, overgrown with fan-palms, my Makoba guides, of whom I had three, pointed to a long green streak of rushes about three miles off, which, they assured me, was very much frequented by the game I was in search of. Progression now became more difficult, as the water not only became much deeper, but firm footing was more uncertain, owing to the burrowing of fish in the alluvial soil. One of my guides now took the lead, and with the end of his long fish assegai tried every inch of the ground in front as we went along. Notwithstanding his solicitude on my behalf, I had the misfortune to plunge head forward into a hole, thoroughly saturating my clothing and filling my rifle with water. It was nearly four o’clock in the afternoon when I arrived at another small island within 300 or 400 yards of the fringe of reeds I have before alluded to, and which was really the bed of the Taoke choked up by rotten vegetation and papyrus-roots, the river slowly percolating through the mass. Having enjoyed an hour’s rest on this haven of safety, and the favourable time having arrived, I again proceeded onwards, and found that my work up to that time had been merely child’s play, compared to that which I now had before me. There was no footing whatever obtainable, with the exception of a network of papyrus-roots, which stretched along in every direction, and was just sufficiently tough to support a man, the bog moving up and down at every footstep. To add to the charm of the situation, the mosquitoes, prematurely disturbed from their afternoon siesta, rose in clouds from the rotten swamp, biting my face, neck, and hands most viciously. Groping and staggering along in this manner till about an hour before sundown, I had seen no game, and was just beginning to give it up as a bad job, when one of the Makobas pointed out the figure of an animal lying, or standing, with a portion of its back and the whole head out of the water, about 200 yards away. It was a Nakon ram, carrying a very fine pair of horns; but from the position he was placed in, I saw there was no earthly chance of killing him at the distance. Thinking to approach a little, I advanced cautiously; but had scarcely proceeded a dozen yards when, as if out of the water, not more than 60 yards off, up jumped another one, bounding along crossways