3 1 2 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 



my foot on his neck, half throttling him, and gave 

 him the most unmerciful thrashing I ever gave a 

 nigger in my life. He was purple in the face, and 

 unable to move, and I feared I had gone too far, 

 but in a short time the other Africans got hold of 

 him and poured water over him ; he recovered and 

 was a wiser and a better man. Drawing my revolver, 

 I swore I would shoot the first man who disobeyed, 

 and the others, seeing the fate of their leader and 

 my determined looks, took up their loads and followed 

 the guide across country without a word. I may 

 here say that on my return, on reporting the man's 

 conduct and my own to his master, the latter told 

 me I should have been justified, by Arab law, in 

 putting a bullet through him, and that would 

 have been his own conduct under similar circum- 

 stances ; in fact, had I not interceded, the man would 

 have been then and there tied up and half flayed 

 alive. The plantation where we were encamped was 

 on an arm of the sea, which runs inland many miles, 

 and is a continuation of the great port of Mombasa, 

 where, just before the British fleet, under Admiral the 

 Hon. Sir E. K. Fremantle, had been anchored. Leaving 

 this to the right, we plunged into a vast undulating 

 plain. A great deal of it was very stony, and covered 

 with stunted grass, a good many ravines or water- 

 courses, thorny bushes, and occasionally forests of low 

 " baubul." We went almost parallel to the foot of the 

 Shimba range in a southerly direction. After we had 

 got clear of the ravines, we came to a plain standing 

 somewhat higher than the surrounding country, and 

 covered with fine grass about 2,^ feet high. In this 

 there were many florikan : I shot several, and as I 



