End of Somali 



interspersed with groups of hartebeest, sometimes 

 forty to fifty in a group, but more often ten or 

 twelve. The sig, with their sleek, dark chestnut 

 coats, looked like troops of well-groomed horses. 

 Cover there was none, but I found I was only 

 regarded with curiosity as long as I kept slowly 

 on the move, didn't approach closer than 400 

 or 500 yards, and didn't look much in their 

 direction. Thus I strolled round one or two herds, 

 looking for a good bull out of the corner of my 

 eye. At last I spotted one, fat as butter, with a 

 glossy coat, nearly black, and fine horns. I walked 

 round, getting always closer and closer, till I was 

 within 150 yards, had my back to the sun, and 

 could see every hair of his coat ; then I sat down 

 quickly, and, before the alarm could spread, had 

 a bullet through his shoulder, bringing him all 

 of a heap. His horns were 18| inches long, with 

 the peculiar twist that is the fashion among sig ; 

 their circumference was 9 inches, and tip to tip 

 they spanned 21 inches. In the afternoon I got 

 another very old bull, whose horns were even 

 better in many respects than the first. Eustace 

 had also been busy, so that we were now revelling 

 in abundance of fresh meat in camp, both us and 

 our men; meat, too, of the fattest and most 

 palatable description. Spots used to be hugely 

 pleased when I got a hartebeest, jumping round 

 and shouting, "Look him fat, look him fat!" 



165 



