THE RAHAD RIVEE 215 



clearly not too fresh, probably of the previous even- 

 ing, and we finally gave it up and returned to camp 

 empty handed. Went out again in the afternoon 

 down-stream, where most of the grass had been burnt. 

 Saw numerous reedbuck, including one good one, 

 but was not sure of his size, as he stood facing me 

 at 60 yards, until he showed his profile in bolting. 



April l$th. Again visited the country up-stream, 

 where the tracks of buffalo had been so numerous ; 

 but no fresh tracks. Met two moderate reedbuck, 

 but did not shoot, somewhat to the chagrin of my 

 shikaris, who wanted meat. Oribi very numerous, 

 and a fair number of ariel, but no gazelle at all in 

 these parts. Saw tracks of hartebeest for the first 

 time on the Rahad. In the afternoon I revisited the 

 country down-stream that I had seen the previous 

 evening. The big reedbuck was not with his does, 

 which I watched for some time feeding in their usual 

 place; but further on I saw another buck that I 

 had tried to stalk the previous day, recognisable by 

 the extreme forward rake of the tips of his horns. 

 I opened fire on him at 100 yards, but missed 

 three times in succession. He seemed to take no 

 notice of the shots, and a fourth in the neck finished 

 him 11 J inches. 



April 20th. Next morning my men were par- 

 ticularly slow in loading up, and we did not leave 



