282 THE GUASO NYERO [ch. xi 



Kermit shot many other animals, among them three 

 fine oryx, one of which he rode down on horseback, 

 manceuvrmg so that at last it galloped fairly closely 

 across his front, whereupon he leaped off his horse for 

 the shot ; an ardwolf (a miniature hyena with very weak ' 

 teeth), which bolted from its hole at his approach ; 

 gerunuk, small antelope with necks relatively as long 

 as giraffes', which are exceedingly shy and difficult to 

 obtain ; and the Grevy's zebra, as big as a small horse. 

 Most of his hunting was done alone, either on foot or 

 on horseback ; on a long run or all-day tramp no other 

 member of our outfit, black or white, could quite keep 

 up with him. He and Tarlton found where a leopard 

 had killed and partly eaten a nearly full-grown individual 

 of this big zebra. He also shot a twelve-foot crocodile. 

 The ugly, formidable brute had in its belly sticks, 

 stones, the claws of a cheetah, the hoofs of an impalla, 

 and the big bones of an eland, together with the shell- 

 plates of one of the large river-turtles ; evidently it took 

 toll indifferently from among its fellow- denizens of the 

 river, and from among the creatures that came to drink, 

 whether beasts of pasture or the flesh-eaters that preyed 

 upon them. 



He also shot three buffalo bulls, Tarlton helping him 

 to finish them off, for they are tough animals, tenacious 

 of life and among the most dangerous of African game. 

 One turned to charge, but was disabled by the bullets 

 of both of them before he could come on. Tarlton, 

 whose experience in the hunting field against dangerous 

 game had been large, always maintained that, although 

 lion-hunting was the most dangerous sport, because a 

 hunted lion was far more apt to charge than any other 

 animal, yet when a buffalo bull did charge he was more 

 dangerous than a lion, because harder to kill or turn. 



