ON AN EAST AFRICAN RANCH 43 



"Tommies" or Thomson's gazelle; the zebra, and the 

 hartebeest, usually known by the Swahili name of kon- 

 goni, being by far the most plentiful. Then there were 

 impalla, mountain reedbuck, duiker, steinbuck, and dimin- 

 utive dikdik. As we travelled and hunted we were hardly 

 ever out of sight of game; and on Pease's farm itself there 

 were many thousand head; and so there were on Slatter's. 

 If wealthy men who desire sport of the most varied and 

 interesting kind would purchase farms like these they could 

 get, for much less money, many times the interest and 

 enjoyment a deer-forest or grouse-moor can afford. 



The wildebeest or gnu were the shyest and least plenti- 

 ful, but in some ways the most interesting, because of the 

 queer streak of ferocious eccentricity evident in all their 

 actions. They were of all the animals those that were most 

 exclusively dwellers in the open, where there was neither 

 hill nor bush. Their size and their dark bluish hides, some- 

 times showing white in the sunlight, but more often black, 

 rendered them more easily seen than any of their com- 

 panions. But hardly any plains animal of any size makes 

 any effort to escape its enemies by eluding their observa- 

 tion. Very much of what is commonly said about "pro- 

 tective coloration" has no basis whatever in fact. Black 

 and white are normally the most conspicuous colors in 

 nature (and yet are borne by numerous creatures who 

 have succeeded well in the struggle for life); but almost 

 any tint, or combination of tints, among the grays, browns 

 and duns, harmonizes fairly well with at least some sur- 

 roundings, in most landscapes; and in but a few instances 

 among the larger mammals, and in almost none among 

 those frequenting the open plains, is there the slightest 



