114 



THE GAME OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA. 



The more shadow that there is under or behind imperfect cover, the less does it 

 matter how imperfect the cover may be. The nearer that one is to such imperfect 

 cover and the farther away the animal is from it, so much the greater, then, is one's 

 advantage in being able to see without being seen. 



I have seen a man wait till a buck walked behind a bush, and then rush rapidly 

 forward. After arriving at the bush, and peering round only to find that the animal 

 was not there, but had bolted, he seemed disappointed and to wonder how it had 

 discovered his presence. 



The fact was, the stalker had given the buck all the advantages similar to those 

 possessed by the occupant of the room just described, while he had placed himself in 

 the position of an errand-boy hanging round the area rails. 



In short grass country the advantages of imperfect cover between a tall and 

 a very short subject lie all with the shorter of the two. You may wonder how it 

 is that a leopard or small buck in short grass always sees you first, while you 

 generally only hear it disappearing. Well, in the first place, it can hear you moving, 

 for you cannot pass through the grass without making a rustling sound. Even if the 

 grass is sparse and in clumps, and you can pick your way between them without 

 causing rustling, your footfall must be perceptible to a creature with its ears so close 

 to the ground as are those of the animals referred to. As to the advantages of seeing, 

 that lies with the short animal, as the following diagram will show. 



The line of sight gives the line from the man's eye to that of the leopard, and 

 also that of the leopard's eye to that of the man. 



ftCtL 



-YOtCTLc 



2Lc: 



See where this line cuts the line of the height of the grass, quite close to the 

 leopard, therefore the leopard has the whole benefit of the imperfect cover. He can 

 see through the grass, but cannot be seen through it. That is why imperfect cover 

 is of no use to the stalker when it is quite near the animal and far from himself. 



