MY SOMALI BOOK 23 



the Game Reserve, the boundary of which passed 

 through Mandera) in search of greater kudu. On the 

 second morning, no news having come in, Elmi advised 

 trying a big hill beyond. 



Starting at daybreak, after an hour's ride, and an 

 hour and a half's steady climb we got over the top of 

 the big hill on to a sort of hilly plateau at an elevation 

 of something over 5000 feet. The climb had been 

 steep enough and hard work, but not difficult. Elmi 

 pointed out a depression between two hills as the 

 most likely place to hold kudu if there were any about ; 

 so we started operations by a sort of beat here which 

 proved blank. There were two recently arrived Somali 

 karias close by, a fact which did not promise well for 

 the proximity of kudu. It was now after 11 o'clock, 

 so I sat down to wait for the tiffin-basket, then break- 

 fast, and a rest, while two shikaris went over to another 

 hill to prospect. They came back about 1.30 p.m., 

 to say they had found nothing but stale tracks, so we 

 started off in the one remaining direction that seemed 

 of any use. We had only gone half a mile when we 

 met a shepherd, who said he had seen a big kudu bull 

 only a few minutes before. This was much more 

 cheering, and we were soon on his tracks, but the 

 ground was hard and stony, and we could not keep 

 them for more than a short distance at a time. For 

 an hour or more we searched for him, until at last 

 Kabarah, my second shikari, spotted him not one 

 hundred yards away. He was off again at once, 

 making back towards the old feeding grounds that we 

 had tried in the morning. Here the going was a little 

 better, and the shikaris managed to keep on his tracks. 



