THE BIG GAME OF AFRICA 



the belly and the insides of the upper part of the legs of 

 the Grevey's zebra are almost pure white, and the ears 

 are in proportion larger than those of the Burchell's zebra. 

 The stripes of this latter animal are considerably wider, 

 and the color of them is often dark brown instead of black, 

 and yellowish cream instead of pure white. Very often 

 a darker " shade line " runs down the center of the light 

 stripes. The ears are, in comparison, smaller and more 

 rounded, and the lower parts of the legs, above the hoofs, 

 pure white. 



In the northwestern part of Laikipia, not very far to 

 the east of Lake Baringo, I once shot a zebra which 

 seemed to be a kind of link between the aforenamed species. 

 It had larger and more narrowly striped ears than those 

 of the Burchell's zebra, while it was also larger in the 

 body, and had the stripes on the legs running almost down 

 to the hoofs. It may just have been a " freak," or possibly 

 a cross-breed between the Grevey's and the Burchell's 

 zebra, for it certainly had characteristics common to both 

 of these animals. 



The zebra is, perhaps, the most common of all African 

 big game. It is simply met with everywhere, from the 

 hot, sun-scorched plains in the southern and southwestern 

 parts of the protectorate to the more temperate Laikipia 

 Plateau, and even upon the chilly foothills of Mt. Kenia, 

 where I have found this beautiful animal as high as be- 

 tween seven and eight thousand feet. From what I have 

 heard from other big-game hunters, this is probably not 

 very usual, but I have more than once met zebras at alti- 

 tudes of over seven thousand feet, and once shot a Bur- 

 chell's zebra on the southwestern slopes of Kenia, where 



202 



