BRITISH EAST AFRICA 



the queer-looking, two-legged intruders. After this ma- 

 neuver has been repeated a few times, the " sportsman " 

 may succeed in getting up to within two or three hundred 

 yards and, being disgusted with the chase, begin to empty 

 his magazine at the herd in the attempt to bring down some 

 of the animals. A young German lieutenant with whom 

 I traveled back from Africa in 19 lo told me unblushingly 

 that he in such a way, and by firing not less than one hun- 

 dred and ten shots, had one day on the Athi plains killed 

 only three animals — one zebra, one hartebeest, and one 

 Grant's gazelle ! But he did not tell me how many unfor- 

 tunate animals he may have wounded more or less se- 

 verely ! This he was naive enough to call " great sport." 



One of the most interesting hunting trips is the Kenia- 

 Laikipia tour. Laikipia is a high plateau at about 7,000 

 feet altitude, mostly well watered from lovely streams, run- 

 ning down from Kenia and the Aberdare Mountains, and 

 having a climate as nearly perfect for a hunting trip as 

 it is possible to imagine. Only during the noon hours, 

 from eleven to two, the sun is rather hot, the plateau 

 lying exactly on the line of the equator, but the heat is not 

 strong enough to prevent a healthy man from enjoying the 

 following up of his prey even during that time. The rest 

 of the day, both mornings and afternoons, is ideal. 



The tour to this plateau can from Nairobi be com- 

 fortably made in from four to six weeks, but there is game 

 enough, as to quantity as well as to the value of the tro- 

 phies, to warrant the spending of two months or more in 

 these beautiful regions. The mosquito is practically un- 

 known, there are no ticks of any kind, the " funza " is 

 nonexistent, and the water of the very best. 



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