SECOND EXPEDITION TO EAST AFRICA 215 



the lions." Abdu was amused at this sally, and 

 I heard him retailing it to the negroes around, who 

 roared with laughter. 



Tagarru was contrite, and I made it clear to him 

 that there was to be no more shooting in future 

 without an express order from me. To give him 

 his due, he accepted the situation, and loyally 

 complied with my wishes in the future. Many 

 sportsmen in Africa appear to allow their gun- 

 bearers to shoot freely, and the practice is both 

 inconvenient and dangerous. At any moment a 

 man may run into danger, and it is hardly fair to 

 a gun-bearer to expect him to accompany you 

 unarmed. The question of shooting had, there- 

 fore, to be adjusted tactfully in accordance with 

 circumstances. 



The remark which I made in jest to Abdu 

 proved to be correct, and we had no more adven- 

 tures after this with either buffaloes or crocodiles. 



One of our camps on the Guaso Nyiro was a 

 very fortunate one for me. I had heard that 

 there were some lesser kudu on the river, and was 

 particularly anxious to shoot a good specimen of 

 this beautiful antelope, but for several days after 

 we left the Marsobit crossing we were unable to 

 find any tracks of this animal. On one morning, 

 when we were about half-way to the swamp, we 

 were passing through bush of a kind I had not 

 before seen, and Tagarru pointed out tracks of 

 kudu, and shortly afterwards he saw one of the 

 animals. We hunted unsuccessfully for some 

 time ; and, feeling tired, I mounted my mule. 

 A short time after this we came upon a young 

 kudu buck. He gave one look at us and vanished ; 



