IMPALLA— A TIRING MARCH 



beautiful antelopes are always a joy to watch, with 

 their foxy red coat, white throat, and long lyrate 

 horns, and they form a very desirable trophy. Along 

 the Uaso Nyiro, especially along its upper reaches 

 and between it and Ngabotok, the horns of the 

 impalla attain a much greater length than they do 

 elsewhere. I saw two magnificent specimens in 

 Nairobi, both well over 30 inches, that had been shot 

 by an officer in the K.A.R. near Ngabotok, but near 

 the Tana River they are much smaller, and I have 

 never seen any in that locality that could compare 

 with those found near the Uaso Nyiro, although, as 

 far as I know, there is no reason for this increase 

 of size. 



At one o'clock the guide, in answer to my question, 

 said that " Camp was not too far " — a characteristically 

 vague expression ; but it was not until after three 

 o'clock that I caught sight of the camels feeding, and 

 soon my tent appeared under a large tree. It had 

 been a tiring march of some ten hours, so some food 

 was very welcome, and the Grant's gazelle I had 

 killed in the morning provided some excellent meat. 

 On the following day I had decided, on the advice of 

 my guides, to cross the river and join the trail that 

 leads along the northern bank. In order to minimise 

 the risk of the camels being bitten by tsetse fly, I 

 determined to start well after sunrise, as the camp 

 was but three miles from the ford. 



The sun had already dispersed the morning mist 

 as the caravan started out, and it was eight o'clock by 

 the time we had crossed the thick belt of bush and 

 palm, and had reached the low shelving bank which 

 marked the ford. The river was very broad, but 

 quite shallow, and the scenery particularly lovely and 



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