174 BIG GAME SHOOTING 
in a position to get the shade froin the afternoon sun, when 
the sportsman is most likely to be in camp ; but thick clumps 
of dense foliaged trees, under which the ground is thickly 
covered with dead and sodden leaves, should be avoided 
altogether. Such places are generally unhealthy, as the damp 
is pretty certain evidence that the wind does not get at them. 
It would be a mistake to have the leaves cleared away—in fact, 
care should be taken to avoid disturbing the ground as much as 
possible, and all grass, &c., should be cut instead of being pulled 
up by the roots. The chances of fever are increased by the 
proximity of freshly turned up earth. Rather than sleep ina 
place with such surroundings it is far better to camp in the 
open altogether, and to have a shed built, which the men can 
run up in a few hours, to sit under during the heat of the day. 
Along the well-beaten caravan routes there is little chance 
-of getting any sport when on the march, excepting with a shot- 
gun. | By walking a short way in front of the leading men, a 
few shots at francolin, guinea-fowl, &c., can generally be had, 
and perhaps an occasional shot at a hartebeest or impala, but 
the chances are that, even if these beasts are seen, they will be 
so wild and on the alert, having seen or heard the caravan, 
that the sportsman will not feel inclined to leave the footpath 
to follow them. He need not therefore expect to see game 
in any quantities until he reaches the vicinity of his head- 
quarters, excepting on the road to Kilimanjaro, after leaving 
M’kameni, the last camp before striking across the Siringeti 
plains, between Teita and Taveta, a stretch of some thirty-five 
to forty miles. These plains are often teeming with game, more 
particularly when the grass is beginning to shoot after being 
burnt. In September 1886 this place was literally crawling | 
with hartebeest and zebra, besides impala, G. Grantit, Oryx 
a a 
collotis; and a few eland and giraffe, with an occasional stein- 7 
buck and wart-hog. But whatever quantity of game there ~ 
may be, it is never advisable to go far from the footpath — 
in pursuit of it when on the march. In places like this ~ 
where there is little water, or more often none at all, it is as 
