from behind , victor was beating a tree stump loudly with a stick , for what exact reason he was not quite certain , kahn was making high-pitched bird calls which were immediately picked up and aped by the many hidden bodies of the villagers in the surrounding bush , and kate livingstone , reacting on pure journalistic instinct , at a height above in her eucalyptus perch , switched on her flash and clicked frantically , as if the end of the world itself were nigh .