380 AFRICAN GAME TRAILS 



bicycle, wheeling down to a rehearsal of "Trial by Jury/' 

 had been run into and upset by a herd of frightened zebras. 

 One of my friends, Captain Smith, Director of Surveys 

 in the Protectorate, had figured in another zebra incident 

 to which only Mark Twain could do justice. Captain Smith 

 lived on the outskirts of the town, and was much annoyed 

 by the zebras tearing through his ground and trampling 

 down his vegetables and flowers. So one night, by his 

 direction, his Masai servant sallied out and speared a 

 zebra which was tangled in a wire fence. But the magis- 

 trate, a rigid upholder of the letter of the law, fined the 

 Masai for killing game without a license! (A touch quite 

 worthy of comparison with Mark Twain's account of 

 how, when he called for assistance while drowning, he was 

 arrested for disturbing the peace.) Captain Smith de- 

 cided that next time there should be no taint of illegality 

 about his behavior, so he got ropes ready, and when the 

 zebras returned he and his attendants again chased them 

 toward the wire fences, and tied up one which got caught 

 therein; and then with much difficulty he led it down 

 town, put it in the pound, and notified Captain Sanderson, 

 the town clerk, what he had done. This proceeding was en- 

 tirely regular; and so was all that followed. For seven 

 days the zebra was kept in the pound, while the authorities 

 solemnly advertised for a highly improbable owner; then 

 it was sold at auction, being brought to the sale, bucking, 

 rolling, and fighting, securely held by ropes in the hands 

 of various stalwart natives, and disposed of to the only 

 bidder for five rupees. The court records are complete. 

 The District Court criminal register, under date of Feb- 

 ruary i, 1909, contains the entry of the prosecution by 

 the Crown through "Mutwa Wa. Najaka A.N." of the 

 Masai for "killing zebra without a license (under section 

 4/35 Game Regulations of i5th April, 1906") and of the 

 infliction of a fine of twenty rupees. The sequel appears 

 in the Nairobi Municipality Pound Book under date of 

 August 6, 1909. In the column headed "Description of 



