FIRST EXPEDITION TO EAST AFRICA 75 



arrangements for the expedition ; and, as Judd 

 had frequently hunted in the Aberdare or Settima 

 hills, and had established friendly relations with 

 some of the Kikuyu hunters, Naivasha was made 

 our headquarters. 



Other arrangements had been made, but no 

 riding animals had been purchased ; and, as it 

 was the hottest time of the year, and no one of us 

 was young, this was rather a serious matter. 

 We trudged on foot, however, round the Naivasha 

 Lake, and had a very pleasant and interesting 

 trip. 



A Berthon boat formed part of our equipment, 

 and we spent several days shooting hippotamuses 

 from this boat on the lake. The portion of the 

 head which is exposed when a hippo rises to the 

 surface to breathe is not large, but I was successful 

 in hitting my hippo at the first attempt. In the 

 afternoon it was found in the papyrus fringing 

 the lake in a moribund condition, and was finished 

 off by Bird. The sport did not particularly 

 appeal to me, but it was exceedingly popular 

 with our porters and with all the natives in the 

 vicinity. The hippo and the eland appear to be 

 the only animals in Africa which have any fat, 

 and the three hippos we shot provided a series 

 of banquets, which were much appreciated. 



We had good shooting at antelope in the course 

 of the trip, particularly on the Longonot plain. 

 We halted there for some days and sent Judd to 

 Nairobi to purchase some riding animals for us. 

 The continuous marching on foot was fatiguing, 

 and occupied time which might have been devoted 

 more profitably to hunting. 



