THROUGH THE PLEISTOCENE 37 



had reached my horse Pease was out of sight; but riding 

 hard for some miles I overtook him, just before the sun 

 went down, standing by the cow which he had ridden down 

 and slain. It was long after nightfall before we reached 

 camp, ready for a hot bath and a good supper. As always 

 thereafter with anything we shot, we used the meat for 

 food and preserved the skins for the National Museum. 

 Both the cow and the bull were fat and in fine condition; 

 but they were covered with ticks, especially wherever the 

 skin was bare. Around the eyes the loathsome creatures 

 swarmed so as to make complete rims, like spectacles; 

 and in the armpits and the groin they were massed so that 

 they looked like barnacles on an old boat. It is astonishing 

 that the game should mind them so little; the wildebeest 

 evidently dreaded far more the biting flies which hung 

 around them; and the maggots of the bot-flies in their 

 nostrils must have been a sore torment. Nature is mer- 

 ciless indeed. 



The next day we rode some sixteen miles to the beautiful 

 hills of Kitanga, and for over a fortnight were either Pease's 

 guests at his farm ranch, as we should call it in the West 

 or were on safari under his guidance. 



