106 AFRICAN CAMP FIRES. 



selected his loafing place with care, and liked it. 

 The danger of a shift of wind was always present. 

 Finally I slipped back over the brink of the 

 ravine, moved three yards to the left, and crawled 

 up through the tall dripping grass to a new 

 position behind a little bush. Cautiously raising 

 ray head, I found I could see plainly the sable's 

 head and part of his shoulders. My position 

 was cramped and out of balance for offhand 

 shooting ; but I did my best, and heard the 

 loud plunk of the hit. The sable made off at 

 a fast though rather awkward gallop, wheeled for 

 an instant a hundred yards farther on, received 

 another bullet in the shoulder, and disappeared 

 over the brow of the hill. We raced over the 

 top to get in another shot, and found him stone 

 dead. 



He was a fine beast, jet-black in coat, with 

 white markings on the face, red-brown ears, and 

 horns sweeping up and back scimitar fashion. He 

 stood four feet and six inches at the shoulder, 

 and his horns were the second best ever shot in 

 British East Africa. This beast has been de- 

 scribed by Heller as a new subspecies, and named 

 Rooseveltii. His description was based upon 

 an immature buck and a doe shot by Kermit 

 Roosevelt. The determination of subspecies on 



