GIRAFFES 



unhealthy ; they seemed to feel its effects very much, 

 and were constantly suffering from fever and dysentery, 

 while hardly one of them was free from ghastly sores 

 on some part of his person. 



After we had camped that afternoon in a little 

 clearing, I went out in search of game, and within 

 half an hour of leaving camp I saw a bull giraffe and 

 three young cows. Giraffes are protected in East 

 Africa, and I was therefore unable to shoot one, but 

 after a good stalk, I managed to get quite close and 

 sat down to observe them. It was a beautiful sight 

 watching them feed, quite unconscious of danger, 

 nibbling daintily at the green leaves, and I was struck 

 by the fact that they were scarcely noticeable amid 

 the bush, in spite of their vivid marking and enormous 

 size. I soon lost sight of them and came across 

 nothing further for more than an hour, when I found 

 some very fresh spoor which I carelessly took to be 

 that of a topi. Leaving my gun-bearer behind I 

 went forward alone, and soon after, on looking cau- 

 tiously over an ant-hill, I saw, not loo yards away, 

 five oryx feeding quietly among the bush ; there 

 was no big bull, so I picked out a good cow, and 

 sitting down took careful aim and fired. She pitched 

 forward as the bullet hit her, and I knew that I had 

 at last got meat. The others had not gone very far, 

 so I fired again, and by a lucky fluke broke both hind 

 legs of a young bull at about 200 yards. Both proved 

 to be in splendid condition, with plenty of fat under 

 the skin, which is somewhat unusual in African game. 

 As I had had no proper food for three days, I there 

 and then sat down and roasted a nice piece over the 

 embers, and ate it, although I had no salt with me. 



Meanwhile, I sent the guide back to camp, and by 



89 



