THE REDISCOVERED COUNTRY 123 



to the south. As far as I could see, the same type 

 of country persisted — rolling green, sparsely wooded 

 hills and shallow valleys. The eye was stopped by a 

 sort of height-of-land ten or fifteen miles away — not 

 hills, but a higher rise of the rolling country. A bold 

 outcrop of big rocks ofifered absolutely the only land- 

 mark ; and as water was more likely to be among them 

 than any^vhere else, I took their compass bearings, and 

 resolved to strike first of all for them. Through the 

 glasses I saw thousands of head of game. 



Returned to camp on the same side of the stream, 

 but saw comparatively little game there owing to the 

 state of the grass. There were, however, a number of 

 topi, Bohur reedbuck, and impaUa. Got my needed 

 Bohur doe with the .405 at 107 yards. Near camp 

 caught sight of a queer-looking black hump sticking out 

 of the tall grass. When near, it suddenly unfolded into 

 a cock ostrich and departed. We found twenty-eight 

 eggs. Only a dozen or so were covered by the bird; 

 the rest were scattered out a few feet, as though they 

 had been kicked aside. This is the slovenly habit of 

 the ostrich. Took one egg, but it was bad; no ome- 

 lette! 



In the afternoon I took one porter and went out 

 with the intention of taking game pictures. The sky 

 overcast, however, and the game had a fit of being wild. 

 Speaking of pictures, some time back I heard Ali ex- 

 plaining the camera to some shenzis as foUows: 



