AFRICAN CAMP FIRES 



passes were sometimes broad trails of game or of the 

 Masai cattle. The country was harsh and dry and 

 beautiful with the grays and dull greens of arid-land 

 brush, or with the soft atmospheric tints of arid- 

 land distances. Game was fairly common, but 

 rather difficult to find. There were many buffalo, 

 a very few zebra, leopards, hyenas, plenty of impalla, 

 some sing-sing, a few eland, abundant warthog, 

 Thompson's gazelle, and duiker. We never lacked 

 for meat when we dared shoot it, but we were after 

 nobler game. The sheep given us by Naiokotuku 

 followed along under charge of the syces. 



When we should have run quite out of meat, we in- 

 tended to eat them. We delayed too long, however. 

 One evening the fool boy tied them to a thorn bush; 

 one of them pulled back, the thorns bit, and both 

 broke loose and departed into the darkness. Of 

 course everybody pursued, but we could not re- 

 capture them. Ten minutes later the hyenas broke 

 into the most unholy laughter. We could not blame 

 them; the joke was certainly on us. 



In passing, the cachinnations of the laughing 

 hyena are rather a series of high-voiced, self-con- 

 scious titters than laughter. They sound like the 

 stage idea of a lot of silly and rather embarrassed old 

 maids who have been accused by some rude man of 

 "taking notice." This call is rarely used; indeed, 



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