BRITISH EAST AFRICA 225 



There was a swamp close by, and I saw four or five 

 small impala bucks fighting. They were all immature, 

 so somewhat carelessly I paid but little attention to 

 them. On getting round some rocks I discovered a 

 biggish herd with at least four good bucks. I had 

 three stalks after them, but they were very much on 

 the alert and I could not get a shot. Burton turned 

 up unexpectedly, and as he had not got an impala, 

 followed them up. He had a shot, and on reaching 

 camp found that he had dropped his sight protector, 

 and sent a Masai back to get it. This man came in 

 later, having found it and also a buck, which Burton 

 had wounded. He killed it with his knobkerrie. The 

 head was a nice one, 27 inches long, but rather narrow. 

 Impala are the most beautiful and at the same time by 

 far the most wary of the antelope to be met with in 

 East Africa. Here also they grow finer heads than in 

 any other part of the continent. In colour they closely 

 resemble a roe. There is a black line on each side 

 of the white rump which gives them a very smart 

 appearance. Usually one finds impala in herds whose 

 number varies from half-a-dozen to twenty or thirty. 

 On one occasion I came across a buck accompanied by 

 at least sixty does. As a general rule there is a 

 master buck, one or two smaller males, and the rest of 

 the party does and young beasts. Bachelor parties 

 vary considerably. I have seen as many as fourteen 

 bucks together ; nor can I agree with Captain 

 Dickinson that in such a case they are all young 

 beasts. I tried hard to get a shot in this particular 



