BEIRA 



179 



of game to bag ; one has to climb in fearfully hot places, over steep 

 rocks, without water, and the animals are difficult to see, rather shy, 

 and, as they are so small, require straight shooting. 



" I came across beira quite unexpectedly. I had been after kudu 

 the whole morning, and was sitting close by a Somali shepherd, who 

 was tending goats. He said to me, ' You like shooting a beira ? ' and 

 took me to the end of the spur, where he pointed downwards. I made 

 out under some leafless bushes about 80 yards away the faint outline 

 of two beiras, which were standing. I fired and broke the fore-leg of 



FIG. 58. Head of Beira, shot and photographed by Lord Delaincrc. 



the male, when both went across a ravine ; but at about I 20 yards' 

 distance down came the buck with a .303 bullet through the head. 

 Finding there were more of these antelope in the hills, I made up my 

 mind to sleep on the top of a rock about 3000 feet high, where I 

 should have a good view of all the valleys. We reached the place 

 about three-quarters of an hour before sunset, and were just preparing 

 a place for sleeping when a gun-bearer came up in a state of excite- 

 ment, saying there was a herd of beiras. Running on to some rocks, 

 I saw two of them disappearing at full gallop among some big slabs 

 about 600 feet high. Heading them as best I could, I got to the top 



