“If you’ll take my advice, gentlemen, before we start, you’ll make some hats to keep the sun off your heads; it won’t take us long, and depend upon it, we shall find it very hot along the borders of the lake. Mr Westerton, I daresay, knows how to make a straw hat as well as I do.”
Charley said he did, and he and Tom quickly procured a quantity of dried palm-leaves, which, splitting up, they formed into wide rough plaits. Harry and I imitated their example. In a few minutes they had enough plaited to form a hat, when, with some large thorns for needles, and fibre for thread, they stitched the plaiting together as quickly as they made it Harry and I were longer about our task, for we managed to make only one hat while they put together two, but in less than an hour we were each provided with a very fair straw hat. Some handkerchiefs, which we had brought from on board served to line them, and make them more impervious to the sun.
Our task completed, strapping our knapsacks on our backs and shouldering our rifles, we commenced our march along the shores of the lake.
Chapter Eight.
Our march westward along the shores of the lake—Tom and the crocodile—Charge of elephants—A narrow escape for Charley—Anxiety on Tom’s account—Besieged in a tree—We have recourse to stratagem and recover our rifles—Aboh’s daring—Renewed attack—The enemy repulsed—Search for our companion, whom we find severely injured—We camp—Danger from crocodiles—Cooking the elephant-meat—Aboh’s skill—Strange noises heard at night—We are compelled to halt—An African forest giant—Tom recovering from the accident slowly—Charley proposes to build a canoe.
According to Aboh’s advice we proceeded eastward, with the lake on one side and the vast trees of the forest rising up to an immense height on our right. Frequently the indentations in the shores of the lake compelled us to keep away from the water, when we trudged on completely surrounded by trees. Even at mid-day it was dark and gloomy, not a ray of the sun penetrating to the ground which we trod. Sometimes the silence was profound, when suddenly it was broken by the shrill scream of a parrot, or the chatter of a monkey as he caught sight of us from his leafy covert.
We saw no other animals, though we discovered elephant tracks and other marks on the ground. Aboh, on examining them, said that they were made by leopards, those savage animals abounding in the forest through which we were passing. On the shore of the lake, however, we caught sight of numerous crocodiles, some poking their ugly snouts above the surface of the water, others basking on sandbanks, or on the points projecting out into the water.
Once, as we were keeping along the shore, the head of a huge monster rose not ten feet from us. Aboh shouted, “Run, massa, run.” His warning came only just in time. Charley, who was farthest from the water, instantly brought his rifle to his shoulder as he saw the crocodile making a dash at Tom, who was nearest to him. Aboh shouted and shrieked to scare the creature. Its jaws were within a foot of Tom’s legs, when Charley, knowing that our companion’s life depended upon the correctness of his aim pulled the trigger and the ball entered the monster’s head through the eye. Tom gave a desperate leap on one side, the crocodile still moved on, and I fancied that Charley must have missed. Harry and I, imitating Tom’s example, sprang out of its way. It had not run five yards on dry ground, however, before it stopped, then rolling on its side, began to kick violently. Harry quickly had his rifle ready, and firing down its throat, put an end to its struggles. Aboh proposed cutting some slices out of its body for dinner, but we declined joining him in the repast, as we hoped to catch as many birds and monkeys as we might require. The narrow escape we had had taught us that we must in future avoid marching close to the water, and that it would be prudent to keep a bright look-out when near the shores of the lake not to run the risk of being snapped up by a crocodile.