CH. XV] WE MEET SIR W. GARSTIN 453 



grass. Meanwhile, Kermit killed, on drier ground, a 

 youngish male of the white-eared kob. 



Next morning we were up at the Bahr el Zeraf. At 

 ten we sighted from the boat several herds of white- 

 eared kob, and Kermit and I went in different directions 

 after them, getting foui-. The old rams were very hand- 

 some animals, with coats of a deep rich brown that was 

 almost black, and sharply contrasted black and white 

 markings on their faces ; but it was interesting to see 

 that many of the younger rams, not yet in the fully 

 adult pelage, had horns as long as those of their elders. 

 The young rams and ewes were a light reddish-yellow, 

 being in colour much like the ewes of the saddle-back 

 lechwe ; and there was the usual disproportion in size 

 between the sexes. AN'ith each liock of ewes and young 

 rams there was ordinarily one old black ram ; and some 

 of the old rams went by themselves. The ground was 

 so open that all my shots had to be taken at long range. 

 In habits they differed from the saddle-back lechwes, 

 for they were found on dry land, often w^here the grass 

 was quite short, and went freely among the thorn- 

 trees ; they cared for the neighbourhood of water merely 

 as ordinary waterbuck or kob care for it. 



Here we met another boat, with aboard it Sir William 

 Garstin, one of the men who have made Egypt and the 

 Soudan what they are to-day, and who have thereby 

 rendered an incalculable service, not only to England, 

 but to civilization. 



We had now finished our hunting, save that once or 

 twice we landed to shoot a buck or some birds for the 

 table. It was amusing to see how sharply the birds 

 discriminated between the birds of prey which they 

 feared and tliose which they regarded as harmless. We 

 saw a flock of guinea-fowl strolling unconcernedly about 



