76 THE GAME OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA. 



back for my camp. On looking around I found that elephant had drunk at the pools 

 during the night, so I followed up these, and trekked off the locality of the map. 

 Map 5 contains my present knowledge of the country. 



All this description is not instanced as a very startling performance in the way of 

 hunting. It is only intended to illustrate how it is that one pieces together gradually, 

 under rather difficult circumstances, the chief features of a closed country and gets to 

 know the habits of its game. 



It must be remembered that even under the most favourable circumstances 

 I could never see further than a few hundred yards. 



The difficulties to contend with were many. Having no native with me who had 

 ever visited the country before was a serious drawback. The lack of water and the 

 impossibility of moving camp without having made fairly certain that there was a 

 pool or hole in front was another drawback. The difficulty of locating these pools, 

 and the great distances travelled by the game, and their very wary habits also tended 

 to make things far from easy. It will be seen that without the help of spoor I could 

 never have found any of these waterholes except by the purest fluke. The only 

 chance would have been to walk aimlessly about in the thick bush and trust to luck 

 in running up against the single herd of buffalo which were grazing over this large 

 area, while camped always by the river. 



If ever I get the chance to visit this country again, equipped with the 

 information on Map 5, it should be a much easier matter to locate these animals if 

 they are about, and it might also be possible to anticipate their movements when 

 moving from one water-hole to another. 



This learning of a difficult bush country is, to my nTind, one of the principal 

 charms of hunting, and is a charm that is altogether absent when shooting 

 on the plain. 



On the plain it is indeed an advantage, a great advantage, to know the country, 

 but one learns its lie in large blocks at a time. There is no need to piece it together 

 little by little, and fill in the unseen country between, from one's own imagination. The 

 habits of the bush animal must also be learnt piece by piece, and this is chiefly done 

 by watching and by making deductions from spoor. Bush animals' habits are not 

 learnt in a day, and a knowledge of them is only the outcome of considerable 

 experience. Another of the fascinations of the bush is the constant disappointments 

 met with and the chances lost, or never made use of. 



All these things take their share in the building up of the necessary experience 

 When at last success crowns the sportsman's efforts he feels that he has achieved no 

 small thing, and that it has been worth all the trouble he has taken. 



