Hunting in East Africa 



head, which was in its fifteenth day, gave excel- 

 lent light. Every now and then some creature 

 would dash across our path, or stand snorting 

 fearfully till we had passed. These were prob- 

 ably waterbuck and bushbuck. Toward half 

 past five the light of the moon paled before 

 the first glow of dawn, and we found ourselves 

 on the outskirts of a treeless prairie, dotted 

 here and there with bushes and covered with 

 short dry grass. Across this plain lay the bush 

 where my guide assured me the buffalo slept 

 during the day, and according to him at that 

 moment somewhere between me and this bush 

 wandered at least loo buffalo. There was little 

 wind, and what there was came in gentle puffs 

 against our right cheeks. I made a sharp 

 detour to the left, walking quickly for some 

 twenty minutes. Then, believing ourselves to 

 be below the line of the buffalo, and therefore 

 free to advance in their direction, we did so. 



Just as the sun rose we had traversed the 

 plain and stood at the edge of what my men 

 called the nyiimba ya mbogo (the buffalo's home). 

 We were too late. Fresh signs everywhere 

 showed that my guide had spoken the truth. 

 Now I questioned him as to the bush ; how 

 thick it was, etc. At that my men fidgeted un- 



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