HUNTING ON LAKE SOLAI 177 



directly towards us, came our eight waterbuck ! Sinking 

 behind a friendly boulder, we watched them come with 

 frequent halts, standing to gaze back over their shoulders. 

 It was obvious that they had been startled by the 

 retreating wild-dogs, and, luckily for us, in the presence 

 of this new danger they had forgotten the old. For 

 they were quite unsuspicious of our proximity, and all 

 attention was concentrated on their rear, whence they 

 clearly feared attack. A memorable picture they pre- 

 sented as they trotted past close below, the bull leading 

 — a true monarch, majestic in massive form and stately 

 carriaoje. It was, however, downrio;ht bad luck for him 

 to find a foe at each end of the trail, and a bullet on the 

 shoulder ended his career. 



" Though I had never before seen hunting-dogs 

 [Lycaon pictus) in life, yet I instinctively recognised 

 what these brutes were, partly by their half-white 

 brushes flashing over the scrub as they puzzled out the 

 scent, apparently interested rather than alarmed at our 

 intrusion." 



The photo overleaf shows the big dog above men- 

 tioned, a fine adult, clean in fur, and with none of the 

 mange that often disfigures these animals. 



Besides waterbuck and ostriches, there were also^ 

 around Lake Solai a few Jackson's hartebeests, and th& 

 marsh swarmed with the East- African Bohor reedbuck 

 [Cervicapra ivardi). One day, riding together round 

 the vlei, we were directed by the vultures to a good 

 male specimen of this latter which had been killed the 

 night before (as the pugs showed) by a leopard. On the 

 hills above we shot steinbuck, oribi, klipsp ringer and 

 wart-hog. 



Every morning at dawn we had sent out scouts 

 in difl"erent directions to report on w^hat game they could 

 discover — and especially to locate a good rhino bull ; 

 but no satisfactory information was forthcoming by such 

 means. One day we had together explored a long rock- 

 girt valley that penetrated the hills towards the north- 



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