204 ON SAFAEI 



demoralised me, and now my " sighting " was too liigli, 

 and the ball passed harmless overhead. Off scampered 

 those weird wildebeests, their bucking heads and whirl- 

 ing tails half seen throuo-h clouds of dust. I watched 

 them for miles, and knew that mv star had set. In the 

 broiling noontide heat, I walked down to our camp on 

 the Athi. 



Under the shade by the river stood four waterbuck 

 — the first of the white-ringed species {Ellipsiprymnus) 

 that I had then seen in East Africa. These 1 left severely 

 alone, having fine examples shot in the Transvaal. There 

 was one bull among them, but his head was poor, as are 

 those of all his kind in Equatoria. For the 30-in. heads 

 of this you must go to the tropic of Capricorn. Here, 

 in East Africa, Cohns defassa is the master-form. 



Work as I would that evening — and I spared neither 

 my men nor myself — I could not retrieve the bungle of 

 the morning ; for, amidst abundant game, not a single 

 wildebeest could we descry. My ten friends had 

 evidently cleared out of the country, and no others 

 remained within our radius. 



Throughout these Athi Plains, and in wide areas of 

 the Eift Valley, one notices that where the greatest 

 abundance of game is seen, there exists, at this season 

 (August — September), scarce a vestige of grass or 

 verdure. Yet, hard by, lie stretches of coarse sour 

 grass totally neglected and uneaten, and where no game 

 can be seen. This latter sort of grass, with its flowering 

 heads, resembles a crop of wild oats. Its special utility 

 is not obvious, and it is hard work walking through it. 

 The contrast is remarkable. The sweetness and rich 

 equality of the other kind of grass is attested by the 

 closeness with which it has, at this season, been cropped 

 by the game. On reaching spots where great herds had 

 been grazing, one marvels what they had found to eat 

 on them. There is but naked earth, pulverised by a 

 thousand hoofs. 



Towards sunset I succeeded in getting two balls into 

 quite the best hartebeest bull I had yet seen. Darkness 



