244 IN AFRICA 



in order to swing him in the right direction. The 

 ground was deep with prairie grass, as dry as 

 tinder, and scattered throughout were innumerable 

 holes in the ground made by the ant-bears and wart- 

 hogs. Any one of these holes was enough to throw 

 a horse head over heels if he went into it. I had no 

 gun, having left it with my gunbearer when I took 

 the picture. So there was nothing to hinder me as 

 we swept across the great plain. 



We passed the camp half a mile away at a furi- 

 ous pace, the giraffe holding his own with the horse 

 and keeping too far in front to be turned. By 

 degrees we approached the prairie fire and the 

 flames were leaping up three or four feet in a line 

 many hundred yards long. The giraffe hesitated 

 and then breasted the walls of fire; I didn't know 

 whether my horse would take the salamander leap 

 or not, and as we rushed down toward it I half- 

 expected that he would stop suddenly and send me 

 flying over his shoulders. But he never wavered. 

 The excitement of the chase was upon him and he 

 took the leap like an antelope. There was a mo- 

 ment of blinding smoke, a burning blast of air, and 

 then we were galloping madly on across the black- 

 ened dust where the fire had already swept. 



For two miles I galloped the giraffe, vainly en- 

 deavoring to swing him around, but once a swamp 

 retarded me and another time a low hill shut the 

 giraffe from view. When I passed the hill he had 

 disappeared and could not be found again. There 

 was no deep regret at having lost him, for I felt 



