GREAT HERDS OF WILD GAME 59 



require an additional amount to face an angry 

 rhino or to attempt to get African buffalo. The 

 last-named creature is a vindictive, crafty beast 

 that is feared by old African hunters more than 

 they fear any other animal. In consequence of 

 these dangers we decided that it might be well to 

 give our nerves a thorough test before going out 

 with them. If they were not in good condition it 

 would be well to know of it before rather than 

 after going up against a strange and hostile lion. 



That is why we went up in the balloon in Xairobi. 

 The balloon was one of the two Boyce balloons and 

 had never been tried. It was small, of twelve thou- 

 sand cubic feet capacity, as compared with the 

 seventy thousand foot balloons that do the racing. 

 It was also being tried at an altitude of over 

 five thousand feet under uncertain wind and 

 heat conditions, and so the element of uncer- 

 tainty was aggravated. We felt that if we could 

 go up in a new balloon of a small size it might 

 demonstrate whether we should later go up a tree 

 or stand pat against a charging menagerie. 



There was a great crowd gathered on the hill 

 where this balloon was being inflated. Since five 

 o'clock in the morning the gas had been generating 

 in the wooden tanks, and from these was being con- 

 ducted by a cloth tube to the mouth of the balloon. 

 The natives squatted wonderingly about in a circle, 

 mystified and excited. At three o'clock the balloon 

 was over half filled and was swaying savagely at its 

 anchorage. A strong wind was blowing, and Mr. 



