( H. XI] ZEHRA AND WATKRBUCK 311 



torn by the thorns into which we blundered during tlie 

 final two liours' walk in the darkness. It was hot, and 

 we neither had nor wished for food, and the tepid water 

 in the canteens lasted us through. The day I shot the 

 giraffe the porters carrying the skin fell behind, and 

 never got in until next morning. Coming back in the 

 late twilight a party of the big zebra, their forms 

 shadowy and dim, ti'otted up to us, evidently attracted 

 by the horses, and accompanied us for some rods ; and 

 a hedgehog, directly in our path, kept bleating loudly, 

 like an antelope kid. 



The day we spent in taking care of the giraft'e skin 

 we, of course, made no huj\t. However, in the after- 

 noon I sauntered upstream a couple of miles to look for 

 crocodiles. I saw none, but T was much interested in 

 some zebra and waterbuck. The zebra were on the 

 opposite side of the river, standing among some thorns, 

 and at three, mid-afternoon, they came down to drink. 

 Up to this time I had generally found zebra drinking in 

 the evening or at night. Then I saw some waterbuck, 

 also on the opposite bank, working their way toward 

 the river, and seeing a well-marked drinking-place ahead 

 I hastened toward it. and sat down in the middle of the 

 broad game ti'ail leading down to the water on my side. 

 I sat perfectly still, and my clothes were just the colour 

 of the ground, and the waterbuck never noticed me, 

 tliough I was in plain view when they drank, just 

 opposite me, and only about fifty yards off. There 

 were four cows and a bull. It was four o'clock in the 

 afternoon. The cows came first, one by one, and were 

 very alert and suspicious. Each continually stopped 

 and stood motionless, or looked in every direction, and 

 g'dve little false starts of alarm. When they reached 

 the green grass by the water's edge each cropped a few 



