434 THE GIANT ELAND [ch. xv 



east changed to opal and amber and amethyst, the red 

 splendoiu' of the sunrise flooded the world, and to the 

 heat of the night succeeded the more merciless heat of 

 the day. Higlier and higher rose the sun. The sweat 

 streamed down our faces, and the bodies of the black 

 men glistened like oiled iron. We might halt early in 

 the forenoon, or we might have to march until noon, 

 according to the distance from water- hole to water-hole. 



Occasionally in the afternoons, and once when we 

 halted for a day to rest the porters, Kermit and 1 would 

 kill buck for the table — hartebeest, reedbuck, and oribi. 

 I also killed a big red groimd monkey, with baboon-like 

 habits. We had first seen the species on the Uasin 

 Gishu, and had tried in vain to get it, for it was wary, 

 never sought safety in trees, and showed both speed and 

 endurance in rimning. Kermit killed a bull and a cow 

 roan antelope. 'J'hese so-called horse antelope are fine 

 beasts, light roan in colour, with high withers, rather 

 short curved horns, huge ears, and bold face-markings. 

 Usually we found them shy, but occasionally very tame. 

 They are the most truculent and dangerous of all ante- 

 lope. This bull, when seemingly on the point of death, 

 rose like a flash when Kermit approached, and charged 

 him full tilt. Kermit had to fire from the hip, luckily 

 breaking the animal's neck. 



On the same day Loring had an interesting experi- 

 ence with one of the small cormorants so common in 

 this region. Previously, while visiting the rapids of the 

 Nile below Nimule, I had been struck by the com- 

 parative un wariness of these birds, one of them re- 

 peatedly landing on a rock a few yards away from me, 

 and thence slipping unconcernedly into the swift water 

 — -and, by the way, it was entirely at home in the 

 boiling rapids. But the conduct of Loring's bird was 



