226 ON SAFARI 



Said Hassan, and Mabriiki on tlie right) is given at p. 



236, and W , not fancying this, added a " Tommy " 



for our own mess. Though terribly wounded, this little 

 antelope was getting away when two jackals took up 

 the chase, running him one on either flank, and eventu- 

 ally turning the poor wounded beastie and driving him 



back into W 's face. They got the gralloch for 



their share. The zebras of the Athi are striped around 

 the legs nearly down to the hoof, the last inch being- 

 black, thus belonging to the sub-species, or form Equus 

 cliapmani. Their colour, as in all East- African zebras, 

 is of purest white, the bands broad and intensely black. 



The following day I at length succeeded in fulfilling 

 one main ambition — by securing my first wildebeest 

 bull of the East-African species. There were four of 

 them in a wide-sweeping basin — impossible of access. 

 Having a good " rest " on an ant-hill, I was constrained 

 to try a shot at some 400 yards. No sound of a hit 

 reached my ears, but within a minute one of the four 

 stopped and lay down, the others halting beyond. 

 There was no mistaking the import of this ; yet that 

 stern-chase led us many a weary mile over shadeless 

 plain, ere that great shaggy beast finally succumbed to 

 a fifth bullet just before the sun went under. A wilde- 

 beest bull is a noble prize ; this one was a fair average 

 specimen, his horns measuring 22j ins. between the 

 inside bends. Dead-weight as he fell estimated at near 

 500 lbs. For days and weeks after this, the wildebeests 

 utterly defied our utmost efforts. 



We saw four eland to-day, as well as waterbuck, 

 impala and wart-hog — the latter followed by small 

 young. 



The lion still filled our minds. Rock-koppies and 

 ravines alike had failed ; but there remained another 

 resource — namely, the beds of heavy green flags that 

 fringe the river (called " tinga-tinga " by the natives), 

 and which the Wakamba assured us held lions. One of 

 the largest of these lies in full view of passengers on 

 the Uganda railway — near mile-peg 300 — and hard by 



