A MISTAKE 



supper. The scarcity of game along the Uaso Nyiro 

 had been very surprising, though it was true I had 

 not looked for it very much, so I was delighted to cut 

 the fresh spoor of a small herd of impalla. I soon 

 caught sight of them quietly feeding after their 

 evening drink, and when I saw the buck raise his 

 head, I fired, and heard the bullet clap. He vanished 

 behind some low acacia scrub, and when he re- 

 appeared, as I thought, between two bushes, I fired 

 again, and down it fell. But, much to my disgust, I 

 saw the buck I had first shot galloping off, and the 

 one I had killed turned out to be a doe. Such 

 mistakes will sometimes happen in the bush, especially 

 when the light is bad and it is difficult to make out 

 things distinctly, but they are very annoying. How- 

 ever, it could not be helped, and at any rate it pro- 

 vided meat for the men. 



When we started once more the following morning, 

 we marched along a narrow trail which at first led 

 westward and then turned north-west, so I decided 

 to cut back again through the bush to the river, in 

 spite of my headman's assurance that we were going 

 in the right direction. And although at first I 

 thought I had done rather a foolish thing, I soon 

 struck a good trail leading westwards once more, 

 which was the way I knew I ought to go. I believe 

 the other road was a native track leading to Marsabit ! 

 On we went, over loose lava and through rather dense 

 thorn, until the summit of a little hill was reached, on 

 the other side of which lay an open plain bounded on 

 the west by a solitary mountain rising to a consider- 

 able height. The trail had at this point completely 

 disappeared, so I made straight for the south side 

 of the mountain, round whose base I saw the river 



266 



