SECOND EXPEDITION TO EAST AFRICA 217 



absolutely end on, and I thought that I could 

 hit him with the telescope-sight. I accordingly 

 sat down and took the shot, and the bullet struck 

 the buck on the flank near the buttocks. He 

 staggered away, and I saw that he was done for, 

 and was rising to my feet, when Tagarru whispered : 

 " Stop, stop ! " I sat down again, and found 

 myself directly facing another buck which was 

 standing quite close to the place from which the 

 wounded buck had moved away. His horns were 

 thrown back over his shoulders, and, like the kudu, 

 he was looking for danger. The horns were not 

 fully visible, but there was something about the 

 appearance of the head which showed me that the 

 animal was an exceptionally fine one, and I fired 

 immediately at his chest. He fell to the shot, and 

 directly I walked up to him I saw that I had 

 secured a prize. The horns are 3if inches long, 

 and the spread from tip to tip is i8J inches. His 

 head is the record which has been shot up to date, 

 though one shot by Mr. Judd approaches it very 

 closely. The bagging of a record head is, of 

 course, a fluke ; but it adds to the pleasure of a 

 hunt to know that you have secured fine represen- 

 tative specimens of the animals you have hunted 

 and slain. 



The other buck required a second bullet to put 

 him out of pain. He also had one of the four heads 

 referred to before in this chapter, though, if I 

 remember right, his head was the smallest of the 

 four. 



After crossing the Guaso Nyiro near the road 

 to Marsobit, on our return journey from the 

 Lorian, I shot a fairly good Baisa Oryx bull with 



