l6o THE GAME OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA. 



any other way. Even when following spoor this is advisable, as if you follow the 

 spoor blindly as likely as not you will come on the animal in an unfavourable place or 

 with a bad wind. So whenever the spoor leads you to the top of a rise, carefully 

 examine the opposite slope, remembering that these animals are generally found on 

 the slope of a hill and not on flat ground. Having once seen an animal, if it is in a 

 position unfavourable for a stalk or for wind, you can wait until it moves to some 

 better locality. In any case, it is much better to know exactly where the animal is, 

 than to come upon it suddenly in thick bush. From a commanding position you can 

 generally work out a very good line for a stalk, after having watched the animal 

 for some time to see which way it is grazing. 



Before commencing an approach you should commit to memory as much of the 

 country as possible, and mark down the position of the animal very carefully by a 

 number of landmarks, so that you will have no difficulty later on in telling when you 

 are in its neighbourhood and how far away it is. 



The oryx, like the kudu, is an animal which is generally found in waterless country, 

 but which prefers flat and plain bush-country, covered usually with little patches of 

 coarse though not very long grass, and thorn-trees such as acacia and mimosa. As 

 a rule, its tracks are easily picked up and easily followed in the dry sandy or earthy 

 soils usual to the countries it inhabits. 



Perhaps I have not been able to convince the reader of the charms of bush- 

 hunting. If so, the fault lies rather with the pen that attempts to describe them, 

 than with the undeniable charms of bush-hunting itself. 



The rhino, it is true, might be more easily shot on the plains, but shooting 

 him there is very tame work, whilst in the bush there is some excitement and 

 interest about following and bagging him. The impala might be shot in one of 

 the wooded stream-beds of the plains, but in the bush the animal seems to be of 

 a finer size. 



The excitement of shooting in the bush is its environment of uncertainty ; you 

 never know what you will meet with, or what may be round the next corner — it is 

 not all cut-and-dried shooting as on the plains. You have to be always on the 

 alert, and almost invariably the animal appears when least expected. Moreover, 

 you must make up your mind in an instant as to what course to pursue, whether 

 to shoot or leave it, or whether to stalk or keep still ; and, if you must stalk, then 

 you often have to decide in a moment what route to take, and must likewise 

 appreciate at a glance the possibilities of the country. 



The most interesting work of all though, is that of following up an animal ; 

 tracking it step by step, always on the look-out and for ever listening for it, 



