ght glimpses of the sleek bounding black and white creature,
running up the long slanting limbs, and dropping like a plummet into the
lower branches of the next tree. We white men never could keep up with
the best of our men at this sort of work, although in the open country I
could hold them well enough. We could see them dashing through the thick
cover at a great rate of speed far ahead of us. After an interval came
a great shout in chorus. By this we knew that the quarry had been
definitely brought to a stand. Arriving at the spot we craned our heads
backward, and proceeded to get a crick in the neck trying to make out
invisible colobus in the very tops of the trees above us. For gaudily
marked beasts the colobus were extraordinarily difficult to see. This
was in no sense owing to any far-fetched application of protective
colouration; but to the remarkable skill the animals possessed
in concealing themselves behind apparently the scantiest and most
inadequate cover. Fortunately for us our boys' ability to see them was
equally remarkable. Indeed, the most difficult part of their task was to
point the game out to us. We squinted, and changed position, and tried
hard to follow directions eagerly proffered by a dozen of the men.
Finally one of us would, by the aid of six power-glasses, make out,
or guess at a small tuft of white or black hair showing beyond the
concealment of a bunch of leaves. We would unlimber the shotgun and send
a charge of BB into that bunch. Then down would plump the game, to
the huge and vociferous delight of all the boys. Or, as occasionally
happened, the shot was followed merely by a shower of leaves and a
chorus of expostulations indicating that we had mistaken the place, and
had fired into empty air.

In this manner we gathered the twelve we required between us. At noon
we sat under the bank, with the tangled roots of trees above us, and the
smooth oily river slipping by. You may be sure we always selected a
spot protected by very shoal water, for the crocodiles were numerous. I
always shot these loathsome creatures whenever I got a chance, whenever
the sound of a shot would not alarm more valuable game. Generally they
were to be seen in midstream, just the tip of their snouts above water,
and extraordinarily like anything but crocodiles. Often it took several
close scrutinies through the glass to determine the brutes. This
required rather nice shooting. More rarely we managed to see them on th