A FRUITLESS LION HUNT . 55 



native haunts. Neither did I try to dimb down the 

 escarpment, for it was now getting late and I was 

 anxious to find S. if possible and return to camp, 

 as we had been on the move since 4 a.m. Just 

 as I was about to mount Aladdin and set off in 

 quest of my companion, I heard the report of a rille 

 close by, and on riding up found S., who had shot 

 and knocked over a very good impala, but had had 

 no other adventures worth speaking of since we 

 separated, neither had he seen any trace of the 

 lions we had come out to seek. 



As some of the porters with me belonged to the 

 Kikuyu nation they petitioned me to shoot a kon- 

 goni, as they would not touch zebra, of which the 

 Swahili are so fond, and the impala just killed would 

 not be sufficient to go round. I therefore stalked 

 an old bull hartebeeste which they pointed out to 

 me, and brought him down with a bullet rather far 

 back in the body. He got up again, however, 

 hobbled off and broke into a run, so Abbudi flew 

 after him — all the joy of being able to get a 

 thrust with his spear, in the approved Masai 

 manner, showintr in his exultino^ face. The harte- 

 beeste gave him a good long run, more or less in a 

 circle, so that I was able to watch everything that 

 happened. At last, when the ungainly antelope was 

 beginning to get tired. It turned and faced him. 

 This manoeuvre checked Abbudi for a moment, 



