THE LAND OF FOOTPRINTS 



thicket out of the sun. As the latter ascended the 

 heavens and the scorching heat increased, our con- 

 fidence in nearing our quarry ascended likewise, for 

 we knew that buffaloes do not like great heat. Never- 

 theless this band continued straight on its way. I 

 think now they must have got scent of our camp, and 

 had therefore decided to move to one of the alternate 

 and widely separated feeding grounds every herd 

 keeps in its habitat. Only at noon, and after six 

 hours of steady trailing, covering perhaps a dozen 

 miles, did we catch them up. 



From the start we had been bothered with rhinoc- 

 eroses. Five times did we encounter them, standing 

 almost squarely on the line of the spoor we were 

 following. Then we had to make a wide quiet 

 circle to leeward in order to avoid disturbing them, 

 and were forced to a very minute search in order to 

 pick up the buffalo tracks again on the other side. 

 This was at once an anxiety and a delay, and we did 

 not love those rhino. 



Finally, at the very edge of the Yatta Plains we 

 overtook the herd, resting for noon in a scattered 

 thicket. Leaving Fundi, I, with Memba Sasa, 

 stalked down to them. We crawled and crept by 

 inches flat to the ground, which was so hot that it 

 fairly burned the hand. The sun beat down on us 

 fiercely, and the air was close and heavy even among 



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