340 AFRICAN GAME TRAILS 



later they came on the remaining cubs and the wounded 

 lioness, and Kermit killed the latter; but they let the cubs 

 go, feeling it unsportsmanlike to kill them a feeling which 

 I am by no means certain I share, for lions are scourges 

 not only to both wild and tame animals, but to man himself. 

 Kermit also rode down and killed two cheetahs and a 

 serval, and got a bad tumble while chasing a jackal, his 

 horse turning a complete somersault through a thorny bush. 

 This made seven cheetahs that he had killed, a record un- 

 equalled for any other East African trip of the same length; 

 and the rinding and galloping down of these cheetahs going 

 at breakneck speed over any and every kind of ground, 

 and then shooting them either from foot or horseback- 

 made one of the noteworthy features of our trip. One 

 of these two cheetahs had just killed a steinbuck. The 

 serval was with its mate, and Kermit watched them for 

 some time through his glasses before following them. There 

 was one curious feature of their conduct. One of them 

 was playing about, now near the other, now leaving it; 

 and near by was a bustard, which it several times pretended 

 to stalk, crawling toward it a few yards, and then standing 

 up and walking away. The bustard paid no heed to it; 

 and, more singular still, two white-necked ravens lit close 

 to it, within a few yards on either side; the serval sitting 

 erect between them, seemingly quite unconcerned for a 

 couple of minutes, and then strolling off without making 

 any effort to molest them. I can give no explanation of 

 the incident; it illustrates afresh the need of ample and 

 well-recorded observations by trustworthy field naturalists, 

 who shall go into the wilderness before the big game, the 

 big birds, and the beasts of prey vanish. Those pages of 

 the book of nature which are best worth reading can best be 

 read far from the dwellings of civilized man; and for their 

 full interpretation we need the services, not of one man, but 

 of many men, who in addition to the gift of accurate obser- 

 vation shall if possible possess the power fully, accurately, 

 and with vividness to write about what they have observed. 



