ROOSEVELT IN WILDS OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA 397 



better known to us as the gnoo, or horned horse. He also brought 

 down a Thompson's gazelle — a Tommy, in the patois of the residents. 

 He was anxious to get a Grant's gazelle, the massive horns of which 

 are valued prizes, and the hunt was continued for several hours, but 

 without meeting one of these wished-for natives of the plains. It is 

 well to state here that there are some twenty species in all of the small 

 and graceful variety of antelopes known as gazelles, the largest of 

 them being the springbok, described on page 209. The speed of the 

 small and beautiful animals of this species is common to all the gazelles, 

 which are able to outrun the swiftest dogs. When taken alive the 

 gazelle, though wild and timid by nature, is easily tamed and if cap- 

 tured when young becomes quickly familiar with its captors. Its 

 beauty and gentleness make it a favorite in many parts of southern 

 Asia, where it is found as well as in Africa. 



The country in which Colonel Roosevelt and his party now were 

 proved to be cool and pleasant despite its tropical location, its elevation 

 above the sea reducing the temperature except under the intense rays 

 of the midday sun. It held many white settlers, Britons and Boers, 

 who had taken up and developed plantations in its fertile areas, and 

 many of whom were ardent hunters. All these settlers vied in efforts 

 to give their notable visitor a good time, and though he was the guest 

 of Sir Alfred Pease, the houses of all were thrown open to him with 

 the utmost freedom and warmest hospitality. 



It was a true hunter's paradise in which the expedition now found 

 itself, animals of a great variety of species roaming over the Kapiti 

 and Athi plains in extraordinary abundance. The most common 

 species appeared to be the zebra and the hartebeest, but there were 

 also to be seen the wildebeest, several species of gazelle and various 

 other antelopes. Hunters in that country are rarely out of sight 

 of game. There were miles of it to be ridden through. But this 

 was chiefly of the smaller grazing variety. The lion and the monster 

 herbivora were naturally less numerous and needed to be sought in 

 their lurking places in thicket or forest. They rarely appeared on the 

 open plain. 



It is a somewhat general impression that Colonel Roosevelt is a 

 marksman of unusually keen and sure aim, a trained expert with the 



