THE RAHAD RIVER 203 



looked like a better buck, but did not get a shot. 

 I saw a third buck in the distance, but did not con- 

 sider him worth a stalk. Gazelle and oribi were 

 numerous, and I finally made a bad miss, right and 

 left, at an oribi at 80 yards. The white tip of 

 the foresight of my -350 having been knocked off 

 had, I think, affected my shooting. I then took to 

 my shot-gun, and on the jheel in the maya bagged 

 one teal, one snipe, and five whistling teal. The 

 snipe was the first that my three shikaris had seen 

 shot. In the evening I started to examine the Eahad 

 River, when M. pointed out a male reedbuck within 

 200 yards of camp. I had fitted a new foresight to 

 my -350, and at 100 yards standing facing me 

 I secured him with a curious shot through the 

 hip, which broke his back. The head was only 

 a moderate one of llf inches. Later I tied up a 

 goat and sat over it without result. A leopard was 

 roaring lower down the river. After dinner I went 

 to the machan. 



April 5th. My men had hardly gone before a reed- 

 buck began to call persistently to my right rear, and 

 I distinctly heard the grass crackle. However, the 

 men in camp talked most persistently, and pre- 

 sently I heard a growl of apparent suspicion, uttered 

 obviously by a lion. Nothing further occurred until 

 the moon set, when the grass began to crackle once 

 more, and finally a couple of large animals sprang into 



