FIRST EXPEDITION FROM MOMBASA 



girafife. Among the flocks of vultures that congregated 

 around were a few marabou storks, reminding me forcibly of 

 the old days when I used to shoot on the Sabi and Crocodile 

 rivers in South-Eastern Africa, while game yet teemed there, 

 where there were always two or three of these quaint birds about 

 whenever anything was killed (" elephant openers," as the native 

 name for them in that country may be freely translated). One 

 I shot here had the exquisite little white fluffy feathers under 

 the tail in perfect order. 



The day we moved our camp on to the stream — the pool 

 being nearly dried up — I did not want to shoot anything except 

 a Grant's gazelle, to provide some fresh meat for myself, as the 

 men were busy carrying down the bundles of still heavy rhino 

 biltong ; but I went out into a great open plain that extended 

 for a considerable distance in the direction of Laiju to look out 

 for messengers I had sent back to the boma, lest they should 

 not find our new camp. I sat down here under a tree and 

 amused myself by looking through my glasses in all directions 

 at the game visible. I could see large herds of zebra in many 

 parts, also numbers of Grant's gazelle ; a couple of giraffes were 

 visible one way, and in the distance some ostriches. By and 

 by, while we were skinning a gazelle 1 had shot, a family party 

 of three rhinoceroses came into view not far off. 



On our way back to camp, as they were in the direction 

 we wanted to go, I went straight towards them out of curiosit}', 

 to see what they would do. My experience of these creatures 

 has not been that they often charge viciously, though when a long 

 caravan is passing and they wish to get through they can hardly 

 avoid going for some one, but of course they do undoubtedly 

 sometimes attack their enemies. I have always believed a cow 

 with a calf to be more dangerous than any other — as is, of course, 

 the case with other animals (it was one such, I believe, that hurt 

 Lieutenant Von Hohnel) — and I was anxious to sec how this one 

 would behave, though as I had no wish to shoot any that day it 

 was perhaps a foolish thing to do. The cow was leading, followed 



