218 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



this grand beast was particularly abundant was the Arusha- 

 wachini district, now in German territory, to the south of 

 Kilimanjaro, and the Njiri plains to the north of the mountain ; 

 Turkwel, in the Suk country to the east of Mount Elgon ; the 

 extensive undulating plains on the top of the Mau and Elgeyo 

 escarpments ; Lykepia, to the west of Mount Kenia ; the banks 

 of the river Tana, and the thick bush country on the mainland 

 near Lamu. There can be little doubt that it will take many 

 years for them to recover to any extent, if they ever do so. A 

 sportsman intending to visit this country must therefore not 

 be disappointed at being unable to add one of these beasts to 

 his bag, though of course he may have the luck to meet with 

 an odd one here and there. It is to be hoped, however, that 

 everyone who goes out to shoot will endeavour to give them a 

 fair chance of increasing by scrupulously refraining from shoot- 

 ing at any cow that may be met with. Buffaloes feed out in the 

 open during the night and early morning, and retire to the bush 

 or other covert where they lie up during the heat of the day. 

 In places where they were unlikely to be disturbed I have seen 

 them lying out in the open in the middle of the day, although 

 there was plenty of thick bush within a mile or less. This 

 may be accounted for, partly by the fact that these particular 

 countries were uninhabited, and therefore undisturbed, but more 

 probably by a desire on the part of the buffaloes to escape 

 from the incessant torments of the various species of noxious 

 horse-flies. 



Old bulls, whether solitary or when in parties of two or three, 

 as is so often the case, have the reputation of being more savage 

 and dangerous to approach than when in a herd, but I am quite 

 sure that this is not so. An old solitary bull when wounded is no 

 more dangerous than a wounded one that has been picked out of 

 a herd, which will then nearly always turn out and go off by itself. 

 Solitary bulls are much more easily approached than others, 

 as the cows in- a herd, more especially if they have calves with 

 them, are very watchful, and when feeding are often scattered 

 about in all directions. But whether in herds or solitary, the 



