228 ON SAFARI 



within the first week. After half-a-dozen shots, I 

 noticed that the attachment of the telescope to the rib 

 was no longer rigid ; there was a distinct lateral move- 

 ment — in itself a fatal flaw. A few days later, on firing, 

 the whole telescope flew bodily back in my face, laying 

 open my cheek and cutting eyebrow and the bridge of 

 the nose, which still bears the mark. The fault was due 

 to defective mechanism ; for the wdiole jar of recoil, as 

 communicated to the telescope, was received by a tiny 

 screw that held barely an eighth of an inch into the 

 rib. 



Being thus crippled, I rode into Athi River station 

 and took train to Nairobi, on the ofl'-chance that such 

 complex repairs could be eff"ected in Central Africa. By 

 the kindness of Mr. Gallagher, the Chief Mechanical 

 Engineer of the U.R., the attachment w^as made secure ; 

 but alas, the precise adjustment of alignment between 

 barrel and telescope was too much to expect in the very 

 best " railway shops," and for the rest of the trip this 

 most important rifle was no more use than so much old 

 metal. 



Fortunate^, I found a friend in need in Mr. F. J. 

 Jackson, C.B., H.M.'s Deputy-Commissioner (now 

 Lieut. -Governor of British East Africa), who most 

 kindly lent me a '303 telescope-sighted rifle, w^ith which 

 I was enabled to do excellent work. 



Returning to the Athi River two days later, I 

 received at the station the following note from my 

 brother : — " You needn't worry about those Avildebeest. 

 I've found out how to get them — on their way to water, 

 night and morning. I shot four yesterday in two right- 

 and-lefts, and one ' lone bull ' this morning. A snake 

 of sorts jabbed at me among the grass coming back to 

 camp. I let drive and luckily blew his neck oflT. He 

 was 5 ft. 4 ins., with a sort of hood on his head." 

 [This was a hooded cobra.] " Indians from the Landi 

 assert there are two lions in the tinga-tinga — w^e must 

 try them on Tuesday, with all hands and backsheesh. 

 Am sending a dozen porters and ' Goldfinch ' to meet 



