TO THE UASIN GISHU 



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honey; but they found little except comb filled with grubs. 

 Some of this was put aside for the bird, which ate the grubs. 

 The natives believe that misfortune will follow any failure 

 on their part to leave the honey bird its share of the booty. 

 They also insist that sometimes the honey bird will lead a 

 man to a serpent or wild beast; and sure enough Dr. 

 Mearns was once thus led up to a rhinoceros. While camped 

 on the 'Nzoi the honey birds were almost a nuisance; they 

 were very common, and were continually accompanying 

 us as we hunted, flying from tree to tree, and never ceasing 

 their harsh chatter. Several times we followed birds, which 

 in each case led us to bee trees, and then perched quietly 

 by until the gun-bearers and porters (Gouvimali shone 

 on such occasions) got out the honey which we found 

 excellent eating by the way. 



Our camp here was in a beautiful country, and game, 

 for the most part Uganda kob and singsing waterbuck, often 

 fed in sight of the tents. The kob is a small short-haired 

 waterbuck, with slightly different horns. It is a chunky 

 antelope, with a golden-red coat; I weighed one old buck 

 which I shot and it tipped the beam at two hundred and 

 twenty pounds; Kermit killed a bigger one, weighing two 

 hundred and forty pounds, but its horns were poorer. In 

 their habits the kob somewhat resemble impalla, the does 

 being found in bands of twenty or thirty with a single 

 master buck; and they sometimes make great impalla-like 

 bounds. They fed, at all hours of the day, in the flats near 

 the river, and along the edges of the swamps, and were 

 not very wary. They never tried to hide, and were always 

 easily seen; in utter contrast to the close-lying, skulking, 

 bohor reedbuck, which lay like a rabbit in the long grass 



