xiv ON SAFARI 173 



Towards midday we returned to the camp for shelter 

 from the heat and to obtain rest and lunch, where we 

 remained until four o'clock, and after refreshing our- 

 selves with tea, sallied forth again. We succeeded 

 in shooting the rock rabbit (hyrax or coney) which 

 lived in great numbers among the rocks near 

 the camp, wart-hogs, guinea fowls, and a lesser 

 bustard. The birds were welcome additions to our 

 larder. The wart-hogs afforded us some fun. The 

 tracker caught sight of two hogs in the long grass ; 

 they were standing side by side in such a way that 

 the snout of one hog was towards the tail of the other. 

 One of the party fired a rifle at them with the 

 intention of securing the two animals with one bullet. 

 The Somali proverb, " to aim is not to hit," applied 

 here, for the bullet grazed the snout of one hog and the 

 buttocks of the other, and so irritated both, that when 

 the boys went to hunt them out of the long grass they 

 \\crt' ch;iM'd by the hogs. The Somalis kept close to the 

 mins, and as the angry animals persisted in following 

 the boys, it became necessary to shoot both hogs. 



It is dangerous to hunt big animals in long grass, 

 especially when they are wounded : records of lion, 

 buffalo, and rhinoceros shooting are eloquent in this 

 direction. In order to show how completely big 

 animals may be concealed in long grass, I may mention 

 that on one occasion a topi (Damaliscus jimele) was 

 shot on a slope covered with tall grass : we left a boy 

 to skin it whilst we returned to the camp for carriers to 

 bring in the meat and hide. On returning to the 

 spot where the antelope was being flayed, I could not 

 see the boys or the topi, fifteen yards away, although I 

 was on the back of a mule. 



On one occasion whilst moving through long grass 

 after a herd of impalla, one of the most beautiful 

 and graceful of all the antelope family, we heard 

 the crack of rifles in a neighbouring forest where 

 we knew our friends had gone for buffaloes ; we 



