CHAPTER XIII 



BRITISH EAST AFRICA (continued) 



WE only stayed one night in Rumuruti on our way 

 back, as we were anxious to get on, now that we each 

 had a buffalo, to try for an elephant on the slopes of 

 Kenia. So, having finished the Commissioner's stock 

 of beer and never was beer more appreciated we 

 moved on and camped on the banks of a muddy little 

 stream. 



There were some rhino about, and I was twice 

 deluded into the belief that I was going to get one. 

 The first time, I thought a black stone in the middle of 

 the plain was one of these big brutes asleep. On the 

 second occasion, I saw something dark moving slowly 

 along behind a ridge covered with burnt thorn scrub. 

 Putting solids into both the rifles, we cautiously 

 advanced, only to discover that the dark object was 

 the back of an old cock ostrich ! A hen was with him, 

 and they went scudding off across the plain sending up 

 little puffs of dust from their great feet. They have a 

 distinctly coquettish look when going fast, and with 

 their absurdly scraggy necks waggling stupidly from 

 side to side look rather like an old and severe spinster 

 clad in rusty black, doing a hundred yards with up- 

 lifted skirts showing an indecent amount of leg. 



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