With Flashlight and Rifle * 



with a lot of ostriches, but I could not get near them. 

 It was by the Natron Lake that I brought down my 

 first eland. I killed two others near Kibwezi, on British 

 territory. Since then I have come across hundreds of 

 solitary bulls in the autumn, and herds of various sizes, 

 made up both of bulls and females, at all times of the year. 



The eland is a wonderful hill-climber. Hans Meyer 

 and Captain Merker have seen them at a height of 16,000 

 or 17,000 feet on the plateau of Kilimanjaro. Professor 

 Meyer is of the opinion that they form a separate species 

 of mountain antelope, living always on the heights and 

 entirely avoiding the plains ; but until he can support 

 this theory by specimens distinguishable from those 

 which I have met with upon the plain, I must disagree 

 with him on this point. 



According to my observations the eland, like so many 

 other African mammals, leads a wandering lite, moving 

 about from place to place according to the season, and 

 only ascending the mountains during the dry season ; 

 they keep moving about over a tremendous expanse of 

 country, seeking out tresh gra/ing-places, and are often 

 to be met with right on the coast of the Indian Ocean, 

 in the; Umba-Xyika country. 



Bull Elands sometimes attain a weight approaching to 

 that of a large ox, and the largest specimens are some- 

 times as much as five feet in height. 



It is an exciting moment for the hunter when he comes 

 in sight of these animals for the first time. At the 

 approach of danger the " singoita," as the \Yandorobo call 

 them, begin by rushing together from the different parts 



476 



