THE GUASO NYERO 303 



was fully awake to the danger I was but a hundred yards 

 behind. We were now getting into bad country, and jump- 

 ing off I opened fire and crippled the great beast. Mount- 

 ing, I overtook it again in a quarter of a mile and killed it. 



In half an hour the skinners and porters came up one 

 of the troubles of hunting as a naturalist is that it necessi- 

 tates the presence of a long tail of men to take off and carry 

 in the big skins, in order that they may ultimately appear 

 in museums. In an hour and a half the giraffe's skin, with 

 the head and the leg bones, was slung on two poles; eight 

 porters bore it, while the others took for their own use all 

 the meat they could carry. They were in high good-humor, 

 for an abundant supply of fresh meat always means a sea- 

 son of rejoicing, and they started campwards singing loudly 

 under their heavy burdens. While the giraffe was being 

 skinned we had seen a rhinoceros feeding near our line of 

 march campwards, and had watched it until the light grew 

 dim. By the time the skin was ready night had fallen, and 

 we started under the brilliant moon. It lit up the entire 

 landscape; but moonlight is not sunlight, and there was the 

 chance of our stumbling on the rhino unawares, and of its 

 charging; so I rode at the head of the column with full- 

 jacketed bullets in my rifle. However, we never saw the 

 rhino, nor had we any other adventure; and the ride 

 through the moonlight, which softened all the harshness, and 

 gave a touch of magic and mystery, to the landscape, was 

 so pleasant that I was sorry when we caught the gleam of 

 the camp-fires. 



Next day we sent our porters to bring in the rest of the 

 giraffe meat and the ostrich eggs. The giraffe's heart was 

 good eating. There were many ticks on the giraffe, as on 



