THE MAGHABUL SULTAN S UNCLE 



eyes were white, while the muzzle was a rich dark 

 brown. We did not reach camp till long after dark. 

 I was delighted with my success and gave out 

 sufficient coffee for all my followers, which pleased 

 them greatly. They spent the evening in singing and 

 dancing, and kept this up throughout the night. 



After dinner a very old man, the uncle of the 

 Maghabul Sultan, who had arrived in the afternoon, 

 after a thirty-mile walk, came to my tent and told me 

 that another chief, Abdi Aden by name, was coming 

 the following day in order that I might be able to 

 discuss with him the best routes from here to the 

 Lorian, and then, if possible, he would provide me 

 with guides to replace those I had taken from Guratti, 

 who were anxious to return. 



The following morning, before dawn, I had 

 reached the plains where I had seen the arrola. For 

 a long while I saw nothing, until at last my gun-bearer 

 pointed out something moving among the bushes. I 

 crept forward and saw between the branches a dark 

 piece of skin striped with white, but could not at 

 first make out what the animal was. I moved on 

 hands and knees to the left and shortly saw, not 80 

 yards away, the head and horns of a lesser kudu 

 [Strepsiceros imberbis), at which I promptly fired, and 

 brought him crashing to the ground with a broken 

 neck. On coming up to where he lay, I was struck 

 with the great beauty of these antelopes. Indeed, I 

 think they are the most handsome I have ever seen. 

 Their glossy coat is of a grey fawn colour, and the 

 face is black with white spots on the neck. The 

 body is fully striped with white, and the throat is also 

 white, while the tail is short and covered with long 

 hairs like that of a bushbuck. 



107 



