402 ROOSEVELT IN WILDS OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA 



most remarkable of the Inhabitants of the dark continent. With its 

 long legs and extraordinary length of neck the giraffe lifts its lofty 

 head to a higher elevation than any other inmate of the animal king- 

 dom and can browse with ease off trees at a height which even the 

 tip of the elephant's trunk would fail to reach. 



Our ardent hunting naturalist wanted a good bull and cow of this 

 interesting species, and by careful stalking he succeeded in bringing 

 down a big bull. But this giraffe, though badly hurt, was not disabled 

 and struggled to its feet again, running from the hunters with all the 

 speed of its long legs. Though hotly pursued, the best of African 

 horses would never have been able to run him down had it not been for 

 the serious wound he had received. This caused the tall beast to totter 

 and lose speed and he finally succumbed to the bullets of his unrelenting 

 foes. 



While Roosevelt was engaged in this hunt. Sir Alfred Pease and 

 Kermit set off in chase of another member of the same herd, which 

 they in turn had succeeded in wounding. While chasing it hotly on 

 horseback. Sir Alfred's ride came suddenly to an end, the horse getting 

 its foot in a hole which caused it to turn almost a somersault, wrench- 

 ing its shoulder and flinging its rider half stunned over its head. 



Kermit, with boyish ardor, followed on the track of the speeding 

 giraffe until his horse, weary with the day's work, completely gave out. 

 This misadventure did not check the ardent young hunter. With a 

 college record for sprinting, he sprang from the saddle and chased 

 the wounded animal on foot for more than a mile. The poor creature 

 had been badly hurt and its bleeding flight fast used up its strength, 

 so that the pursuer had at length the satisfaction of seeing it halt, 

 totter on its long legs, and fall crashing to the ground, stone dead. 

 That day's hunt had added two giraffes to the hunters' record. 



On May 15th the Roosevelt party left the ranch of Sir Alfred for 

 that of Mr. George McMuUen, a wealthy American from St. Louis, 

 who had been led by his love of hunting to take up a lodge in that wide 

 wilderness. McMullen was a hunter of prowess and his wife shared 

 his enthusiasm and had herself brought down a lion. The ranch, an 

 extensive one, was kept for its owner's use alone, though he raised the 

 embargo in Mr. Roosevelt's favor and gave him every facility in his 

 power. 



