■ 



SECOND EXPEDITION TO EAST AFRICA 173 



bore, fitted with a telescope-sight, and also a 

 spare '450, which was lent to me for the expedi- 

 tion by my friend Mr. Bird, and we both had 

 shot-guns. I had made good shooting with a 

 •275 Rigby-Mauser rifle, both with and without 

 a telescope-sight, during my first expedition 

 to Africa; but wounds made by a small-bore 

 rifle bleed very little, and animals mortally 

 wounded by them are not infrequently lost. 

 I have seen a chital stag in India gallop nearly 

 200 yards without leaving a drop of blood, after 

 being shot through the heart ; and the African 

 antelopes have remarkable vitality, I therefore 

 purchased the '350 for the expedition from John 

 Rigby & Co., and found it a very satisfactory 

 weapon. 



All told, we had eighty- two porters. A 

 porter's ration is ij lbs. of beans per diem, 

 and the porters expect to get this ration even 

 when they have an abundance of meat to eat ; 

 and food for the negro porters and for the 

 Somalis for some days represented many of 

 the loads. For riding purposes we purchased 

 three Abyssinian mules from Newland, Tarlton 

 & Co., which turned out well and were a great 

 comfort. We had also three or four Askaris, 

 with Martini rifles and a few cartridges, for the 

 protection of the porters while they were on 

 the march. 



Before we started I spent one day in a hunt 

 for wildebeest in the plain near Nairobi. The 

 hunt was unsuccessful, but I saw a very interesting 

 sight. The African hunting-dog, as stated by 

 Mr. Selous, has a fine turn of speed. A big dog, 



