3 i2 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO CH. xxvn 



state of excitement, and who started to explain 

 in very bad Swahili how he had come across the 

 dead eland. Misunderstanding what he said, I 

 told my friend that Sabaki had found the eland 

 which he had shot in the morning, and rejoiced 

 heartily with him at this piece of good luck. On 

 viewing the head, however, we could not under- 

 stand it, as it was very much bigger than the 

 one he had fired at ; and it was not till later 

 in the evening when I visited Landaalu, curled 

 up at the camp fire, that the mystery was ex- 

 plained. He greeted me by saying that after all 

 we had not gone to Baringo for nothing the 

 previous day, and on my asking him what he 

 meant he told me about the finding of the eland, 

 taking it for granted that I knew it was mine. 

 I quickly called up Sabaki and after some trouble 

 got from him the whole story of how he had found 

 the body close to my little hillock and near where 

 my men were searching for it. So I broke the 

 truth gently to my friend, who at once acknow- 

 ledged my claim and congratulated me on my 

 good fortune. 



How great this good fortune was I did not 

 know till long after ; but even then, when I came 

 to examine the head and skin carefully, I found 

 that they both differed materially from those of 

 any other eland that I had ever seen. For one 



