FIRST HEAD OF GAME 



After tiffin with Lieutenant Harold — our last taste 

 of civilisation — we were assailed with questions as to 

 how and where a large amount of our baggage was to 

 go. Already fifty-nine of our camels, together with 

 sixteen hired animals, had been loaded, but there were 

 still a lot of things lying about unpacked. After piling 

 up all we could, there were still three full loads which 

 had to be forwarded later. 



Unfortunately only three ponies, instead of the seven 

 we wanted, had been collected, so that we had to 

 take it in turns to ride. As we passed through the 

 native quarters on our departure, the inhabitants made 

 pointed remarks about Englishmen who could not afford 

 to ride, and chaffed our men about their sahibs. It 

 was a distinct novelty for a white man to start for the 

 interior on foot. 



The first beast killed was a jackal, which H. and I 

 spotted, and he bagged — not an imposing start. ^ 



On our first night out we experienced the usual 

 discomfort of not being able to lay our hands on any- 

 thing we wanted, but somehow we got a meal of sorts 

 and turned in. Early next morning W. and I started out 

 towards the plain of Manda through Heron-thorn scrub 

 into Kulun bush, amongst which there was a good deal 

 of grass. On the way we saw an aul {Gazella soeni- 

 vierringi\ which W. tried for without success, while I, 

 after an unsuccessful long shot at a gazelle, returned 

 to camp to overhaul my battery, and, finding that 



1 For the sake of brevity I have in this and the following chapters indicated the 

 various members of the party by their initials only, viz., H. for Harrison, W. for 

 Whitehouse, and B. for Butter. 



