78 SAFARI 



There was an oryx with only one horn. One Grant 

 had only a single ear. An elephant will sometimes 

 have a broken tusk, or his ear flap will be peculiarly 

 marked. Other beasts you can tell by their offspring, 

 while many have peculiar scars or claw-marks where 

 they have been mauled by leopards or lions and yet 

 through fleetness of foot and good luck have 

 escaped. 



Now comes a long line of fifteen warthogs in single 

 file. They all trot along at about the same speed, 

 their tails in the air ; they have a comical self-satisfied 

 look about them. They stir up a lot of dust with 

 their little feet. I hope they will come close to me; 

 but, as luck has it, when they reach within ten feet of 

 the water they swerve off and trot away without 

 changing speed or seeming to be frightened. "Water- 

 hole luck" Osa calls it. 



I can always tell when ostriches are coming up even 

 before I see them. Our animals pay no attention 

 to different species of other four-legged game. They 

 rub shoulders and all seem to be friends. But the 

 minute an ostrich comes along, the ranks part. I 

 have never seen an ostrich kick at another animal. 

 Yet he seems to be feared. Also he is fearless. 

 When he starts for water and there is other game in 

 the path he never swerves or goes around it. He 

 marches along with a slow dignified gait and the game 

 makes way for him. 



