390 AFRICAN GAME TRAILS 



Africa. Before we left the Uasin Gishu table-land some 

 of the hartebeest cows appeared with new-born calves. 

 Some of the acacias had put forth their small, globular, 

 yellow blossoms, just as the acacias on the Athi Plains were 

 doing in the previous May. The blue lupins were flower- 

 ing, for it is a cool, pleasant country. 



Our camp here was attractive, and Kermit and I took 

 advantage of our leisure to fill out the series of specimens 

 of the big hartebeest and the oribi which Heller needed 

 for the National Museum. The flesh of the oribis was re- 

 served for our own table; that of the kongonis which had 

 been duly hallalled by the Moslems among our gun-bearers 

 was turned over to what might be called the officers' 

 mess of the safari proper, the headmen, cooks, tent boys, 

 gun-bearers, and saises; while of course the skinners and 

 porters who happened to be out with us when any animal 

 was slain got their share of the meat. We also killed two 

 more hyenas; one, a dog, weighed one hundred and twenty 

 pounds, being smaller than those Heller had trapped while 

 skinning the first bull elephant I shot in the Kenia forest. 



Good Ali, my tent boy, kept bowls of the sweet-scented 

 jessamine on our dining-table; now that there were four 

 of us together again we used the dining-tent, which I had 

 discarded on the Guaso Nyero trip. Bakhari had been 

 rather worn down by the work on the Guaso Nyero, and in 

 his place I had taken Kongoni, a Wakamba with filed 

 teeth, like my second gun-bearer, Gouvimali, but a Moslem 

 although his Moslemism did not go very deep. Kon- 

 goni was the best gun-bearer I had yet had, very willing, 

 and excellent both at seeing and tracking game. Kermit's 

 two gun-bearers were Juma Yohari, a coal-black Swahili 

 Moslem, and Kassitura, a Christian negro from Uganda. 

 Both of them were as eager to do everything for Kermit 

 as mine were to render me any service great or small; and 

 in addition they were capital men for their special work. 

 Juma was always smiling and happy, and was a high 

 favorite among his fellows; at lunch, when we had any, if 



