ig6 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



harm, but, as a scavenger, a vast deal of good. The cunning- 

 looking little jackal, which by its howling during the night has 

 disturbed the sportsman's well-earned rest, and called forth 

 language more forcible than polite, may be seen at dawn 

 trotting along to his earth, looking as unconcerned and inno- 

 cent as possible, while various species of the larger ichneumons 

 and that curious unwieldy creature, the ratel, will also be abroad. 

 The ratel, by the way, with the porcupine (the latter, though 

 plentiful, rarely seen) is responsible for the numerous shallow 

 burrowings that may be observed so frequently, often in the 

 middle of a well-beaten footpath which is as hard as a brick- 

 bat. These burrowings are made by the ratel and porcupine 

 when searching for food. Perhaps, too, in the early morning the 

 stalker will see a curious little ground squirrel, which is rarely found 

 far from its retreat, and which on being disturbed scuttles away, 

 and, if not too frightened, on arriving at its burrow, sits bolt 

 upright to scrutinise the intruder like a marmot, before finally 

 disappearing with a flick of its tail. He may see, too, that 

 quaint and most interesting little beast, the brown mongoose, 

 which is so common in East Africa, and goes about in large 

 family parties. This jolly little creature, which is the personi- 

 fication of curiosity, makes a most amusing and intelligent pet. 

 As they trot along, sticking their noses into or under everything 

 that is at all likely to shelter or hide anything that is eatable, 

 these mongooses keep up a constant low squeaking noise. I have 

 often watched them, and have had them come close up to me, 

 sitting up on their hind legs, trying to make out what I was. It 

 is one of the funniest sights to see them scampering along in a 

 desperate hurry on being frightened, and diving one after the 

 other into the chimney-like holes of an ant-heap, in which they 

 nearly always live. There are scores of other interesting little 

 animals, too numerous to mention, all of which add consider 

 ably to the pleasures of a day's shooting to anyone who is at 

 all keen to observe the habits of little-known creatures. 



Bird life is particularly in evidence in the early morning, 

 and everything that has a voice seems to make use of it to the 



