In the Heart of Africa by Sir Samuel White Baker
page 93 of 277 (33%)
page 93 of 277 (33%)
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while Hadji Ali and the old hunter returned to camp for assistance in
men and knives, etc. In a little more than an hour and a half, two objects like the backs of turtles appeared above the surface. These were the flanks of the two hippos. A short time afterward the men arrived, and, regardless of crocodiles, they swam toward the bodies. One was towed directly to the shore by the rope attached to the harpoon, the other was secured by a long line and dragged to the bank of clean pebbles. We had now a good supply of food, which delighted our people. I returned to the camp, and several hours elapsed, but none of the aggageers returned, and neither had we received any tidings of our people and camels that had left us at daybreak to search for the dead elephants. Fearing that some mishap might have occurred in a collision with the Bas-e, I anxiously looked out for some sign of the party. At about 4 P.M. I observed far up the bed of the river several men, some mounted and others upon foot, while one led a camel with a curious-looking load. Upon a nearer approach I could distinguish upon the camel's back some large object that was steadied by two men, one of whom walked on either side. I had a foreboding that something was wrong, and in a few minutes I clearly perceived a man lying upon a make-shift litter, carried by the camel, while the Sheik Abou Do and Suleiman accompanied the party upon horseback; a third led Jali's little gray mare. They soon arrived beneath the high bank of the river upon which I stood. Poor little Jali, my plucky and active ally, lay, as I thought, dead upon the litter. We laid him gently upon my angarep, which I had raised by four men, so that we could lower him gradually from the kneeling |
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