TO THE UASIN GISHU 889 



This bull was a fine specimen, colored almost exactly 

 like the giraffes of the Athi and Sotik, but with much more 

 horn development. I doubt whether this five-horned kind 

 is more than a local race. The bulls have been described 

 as very dark; but the one thus shot, a big and old master 

 bull, was unusually light, and in the herd there were individ- 

 uals of every shade, much the darkest being a rather small 

 cow. Indeed, in none of the varieties of giraffe did we find 

 that the old bulls were markedly darker than the others; 

 many of them were dark, but some of the biggest were light- 

 colored, and the darkest individuals in a herd were often 

 cows. Giraffes, by the way, do sometimes lie down to 

 sleep, but not often.* 



In order that Heller might take care of the giraffe skin 

 we had to spend a couple of days where we were then 

 camped. The tents were pitched near a spring of good 

 water, beside a slight valley in which there were marshy 

 spots and reedbeds. The country was rolling, and covered 

 with fine grass, unfortunately so tall as to afford secure 

 cover for lions. There were stretches bare of trees, and 

 other stretches with a sparse, scattered growth of low 

 thorns or of the big, glossy-leaved bush which I have spoken 

 of as the African jessamine because of the singularly sweet 

 and jessamine-like fragrance of its flowers. Most of these 

 bushes were in full bloom, as they had been six months 

 before on the Athi and three months before near Kenia; 

 some bore berries, of which it is said that the wild elephant 

 herds are fond. 



It is hard to lay down general rules as to the blossoming 

 times of plants or breeding times of animals in equatorial 



* This is just one of the points as to which no one observer should dogmatize or 

 try to lay down general laws with no exceptions. Moreover, the personal equation 

 of even the most honest observer must always be taken into account in considering 

 not merely matters like this, but even such things as measurements. For example, 

 Neuman, in his "Elephant Hunting," gives measurements of the height of both 

 elephants and GreVy's zebra; our measurements made the elephants taller, and the 

 big zebras less tall, than he found them. Measurements of the lengths of lions, 

 made by different observers, are for this reason rarely of much value for purposes 

 of comparison. 



