ON SAFARI. RHINO AND GIRAFFE 99 



done. But as I went back to mount the sorrel he struggled 

 to his feet again and disappeared after his companion 

 among the trees, which were thicker here, as we had reached 

 the bottom of the valley. So I tore after him again, and in 

 a minute came to a dry watercourse. Scrambling into 

 and out of this I saw the giraffes ahead of me just begin- 

 ning the ascent of the opposite slope; and touching the 

 horse with the spur we flew after the wounded bull. This 

 time I made up my mind I would get up close enough; but 

 Tranquillity did not quite like the look of the thing ahead 

 of him. He did not refuse to come up to the giraffe, but he 

 evidently felt that, with such an object close by and evident 

 in the landscape, it behooved him to be careful as to what 

 might be hidden therein, and he shied so at each bush we 

 passed that we progressed in series of loops. So off I jumped, 

 throwing the reins over his head, and opened fire once more; 

 and this time the great bull went down for good. 



Tranquillity recovered his nerve at once and grazed 

 contentedly while I admired the huge proportions and 

 beautiful coloring of my prize. In a few minutes Captain 

 Slatter loped up, and the gun-bearers and saises followed. 

 As if by magic, three or four Wakamba turned up immedi- 

 ately afterward, their eyes glistening at the thought of the 

 feast ahead for the whole tribe. It was mid-afternoon, 

 and there was no time to waste. My sais, Simba, an excel- 

 lent long-distance runner, was sent straight to camp to get 

 Heller and pilot him back to the dead giraffes. Beside 

 each of the latter, for they had fallen a mile apart, we left 

 a couple of men to build fires. Then we rode toward camp. 

 To my regret, the smaller giraffe turned out to be a young 

 bull and not a cow. 



