The Bahr-el-Zeraf 



I was stalking him. When I thought he 

 must soon hear me and trot off, I emitted a 

 shrill whistle which brought his head up from the 

 grass he was grazing on, and he stood long 

 enough for the shot to take effect. He was un- 

 usually confiding, as the fact of the steamer 

 having stopped so near usually startles a herd 

 and puts it on the move. 



It was nearly dark when we pulled up a second 

 time to enable me to get another shot from the 

 bank, so that in ten minutes I couldn't see the 

 foresight properly, with the result that I had to 

 give it up after two or three shocking misses. 



After steaming on throughout the night, we 

 woke up next morning to find, staring us in the 

 face five miles off eastwards, the three rocky hills 

 called Jebel Zeraf. We had made up our minds 

 to land and explore these hills in the hopes of 

 finding roan antelope round the base. I am 

 credibly informed that this is a good locality for 

 big roan; but alas! our hopes were dashed, and we 

 were doomed to disappointment. Two things 

 we saw, however, were some ostriches and a herd 

 of giraffe. We didn't want to harm them ; more- 

 over, the latter are " off the list " of animals that 

 can be shot, being strictly preserved, so we let 

 them lollop off into fancied security, where they 

 stood swaying their great bulgy-looking necks to 

 and fro for all the world like the prehistoric peeps 

 they are. 



M l6l 



