Big Game Shooting 



the best known of these reserves, and for almost 

 one hundred miles the traveller may view from 

 the windows of his railway carriage the surpris- 

 ing spectacle of large and beautiful animals which 

 are rarely seen outside zoological gardens feed- 

 ing freely and without fear close to the railway 

 track. The two most abundant animals are the 

 Zebra, which may be seen in herds which some- 

 times literally contain thousands, and the Harte- 

 beest or Kongoni, a strongly built antelope ot 

 somewhat bovine appearance, with a sloping 

 back. Mmgled with this latter is sometimes 

 found the Wildebeest or Gnu, a curious-looking 

 creature which attracts attention not only by its 

 bushy mane but by its strange leaps and capers. 

 Neither Hartebeest nor Wildebeest are remark- 

 able for grace of build or movement, but this is 

 supplied by the beautiful Gazelles, known as 

 Gazella Thomsoni and G. Granti, which are some- 

 times so plentiful that they cover large tracts of 

 the plain. A pretty sight may occasionally be 

 seen near Naivasha, where the wild gazelles be- 

 come surrounded by the flocks of native sheep 

 and go on grazing without fear. These antelopes 

 and the zebra, together with ostriches, may nearly 

 always be found on the Athi plains. Rarer, but 

 still sometimes to be seen by those whom fortune 

 favours, are lions, giraffes, and rhinoceros. It is 

 better to see the latter animal from a train than 

 to meet it when marching, for though Captain 



8 



