j 7 4 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



in a position to get the shade from the afternoon sun, when 

 the sportsman is most likely to be in camp ; but thick clumps 

 of dense foliaged trees, under which the ground is thickly 

 covered with dead and sodden leaves, should be avoided 

 altogether. Such places are generally unhealthy, as the damp 

 is pretty certain evidence that the wind does not get at them. 

 It would be a mistake to have the leaves cleared away in fact, 

 care should be taken to avoid disturbing the ground as much as 

 possible, and all grass, &c., should be cut instead of being pulled 

 up by the roots. The chances of fever are increased by the 

 proximity of freshly turned up earth. Rather than sleep in a 

 place with such surroundings it is far better to camp in the 

 open altogether, and to have a shed built, which the men can 

 run up in a few hours, to sit under during the heat of the day. 

 Along the well-beaten caravan routes there is little chance 

 of getting any sport when on the march, excepting with a shot- 

 gun. By walking a short way in front of the leading men, a 

 few shots at francolin, guinea-fowl, &c., can generally be had, 

 and perhaps an occasional shot at a hartebeest or impala, but 

 the chances are that, even if these beasts are seen, they will be 

 so wild and on the alert, having seen or heard the caravan, 

 that the sportsman will not feel inclined to leave the footpath 

 to follow them. He need not therefore expect to see game 

 in any quantities until he reaches the vicinity of his head- 

 quarters, excepting on the road to Kilimanjaro, after leaving 

 M'kameni, the last camp before striking across the Siringeti 

 plains, between Teita and Taveta, a stretch of some thirty-five 

 to forty miles. These plains are often teeming with game, more 

 particularly when the grass is beginning to shoot after being 

 burnt. In September 1886 this place was literally crawling 

 with hartebeest and zebra, besides impala, G. Grantii, Oryx 

 collotis, and a few eland and giraffe, with an occasional stein- 

 buck and wart-hog. But whatever quantity of game there 

 may be, it is never advisable to go far from the footpath 

 in pursuit of it when on the march. In places like this 

 where there is little water, or more often none at all, it is as 



