THE ENDLESS VELDT 145 



the flash light around the corner, all was^ silent. I 

 would hardly get back into bed before they would 

 start all over again. Finally I gave up in disgust. 



As I was unable to sleep, I called my boy, Kahindi, 

 to prepare some cofTee, then awakened Mike. After 

 a hght breakfast we dashed off in the fast car to see 

 how many hons we could select for rugs. Two hours 

 later we returned without having seen a single hon, 

 but I had shot two pesky hyenas and hoped they were 

 delegates returning from last night's convention. The 

 first was a running shot and just managed to make 

 him in par, while the second being too full to run 

 enabled me to score a hole in one. 



Today it was necessary to go after water so we went 

 to the spring about twenty miles east of our camp 

 toward the Blangetti. We took this route, hoping to 

 find some eland on the way. We stopped at a likely 

 looking donga long enough for the boys to beat through 

 it, thinking that maybe we could scare out some hons, 

 but all that the ravine yielded was several reedbuck 

 and five hyenas. 



Shortly afterwards we came upon the rotting car- 

 cass of a giraffe, and when we stopped alongside, all 

 of my boys made a wild scramble to get the hairs out 

 of its tail. It seems that these hairs are very valuable 

 among the natives for ornaments. Later we found 

 another dead giraffe. Both of these animals had been 

 lifeless for several days and were practically eaten by 

 hyenas, jackals, and vultures, so it was impossible to 

 say whether they had died from sickness or had been 

 killed by natives with bow and arrows. 



Just before reacliing the spring, a herd of impalla 

 bounded across the path and ran in among some small 



