154 



MY SOMALI BOOK 



and the grass was long enough to make it impossible 

 to search more than a very small area of ground witli 

 any thoroughness. 



An hour later I was examining with the glasses 

 another oryx among some aoitl when a dark object 

 to the right rose from the ground and revealed itself 

 as the bull hartebeest that was the main object of our 

 quest ; the oryx no longer counted. I had not the least 

 difficult}^ in walking up to within one hundred yards of 

 him, and dropped him with a single bullet, disabled 



. fK^^ 



but not dead ; the hartebeests like the oryx family 

 are singularly tenacious of life. The horns were a 

 nice massive pair and a very fair length. The s/g, 

 as Somalis call Swayne's hartebeest, has a peculiarly 

 long bovine face, with a soft dark red-brown coat, and 

 stands over four feet at the shoulder, but the back 

 slopes considerably, the hindquarters being a good 

 deal lower. Further west on the Marar Prairie this 

 species is to be found in thousands. I was very pleased 

 at getting one now instead of having to go there, a 

 good deal out of my waj^, to find one. 



