THE LARGER EAST AFRICAN ANTELOPES 



rather wide near our place, and still contained a good deal 

 of water, although there had been no rains in this part of 

 the country for many weeks. Suddenly my attention was 

 called to a herd of about forty wildebeests, which were 

 coming along almost in single file toward the widest stretch 

 of the water course, and hardly more than eighty to ninety 

 yards away from us. As they were crossing the water, 

 a great many of them drank, while two bulls fought fiercely 

 in mid-stream. As we were hoping to get some more lions 

 in this vicinity, I did not molest the herd which, totally 

 unaware of our presence, marched leisurely up on the other 

 side of the river bed and began to feed again as they were 

 moving along over the plains. 



From the many bleached skulls of wildebeest, which 

 we saw strewn about on these and other plains, I believe 

 that the lions are very fond of " gnu steak," and that 

 perhaps next to the zebra they prefer this kind of meat. 

 I often noticed that old, stray bulls used to feed among 

 little groups of zebra, and they always seemed to be on 

 the best terms with each other. The gnu is a very cunning 

 animal. When, for instance, he is hunted near the game 

 preserves, he seems to know, almost to the foot, where the 

 border of the preserves begins. As soon as he notices 

 the hunter he gallops off at a great speed until he is within 

 the protected zone. Then he whirls around and looks at 

 him in defiance, switching his sides with his beautiful tail, 

 evidently knowing that he is safe there. 



The wildebeest also shows a great deal of vitality. I 

 had once been trying for several hours to stalk an old bull 

 gnu on the Athi Plains. When I finally succeeded in get- 

 ting up to within two hundred yards of this fine-looking 



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