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 
Fe rn aa a en ee ce oe 
