A few minutes with this party convinced me
that I was wilfully wasting time; they would not separate, and
they talked so loud that game would be startled a mile off. I
proposed that they should station me in a likely place, form a
circle, and drive up what was in it--they were far above acting
beaters after that fashion. So we dismissed them and dispersed
about the bush. My factotum shot a fine Mboko (Siurus
eborivorus), 2 ft. 2 in. total length: the people declare that
this squirrel gnaws ivory, whence its name. I had heard of it in
East and Central Africa, but the tale appeared fabulous: here it
is very common, half a dozen will be seen during the day; it has
great vitality, and it will escape after severe wounds. The
bushmen also brought a Shoke (Colubus Satanas), a small black
monkey, remarkably large limbed: the little unfortunate was
timid, but not vicious; it worried itself to death on the next
day. They also showed me the head of the Njiwo antelope, which M.
du Chaillu (chap, xii.) describes as "a singular animal of the
size of a donkey, with shorter legs, no horns, and black, with a
yellow spot on the back.
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