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ELEPHANT-HUNTING IN EAST AFRICA 



very dry one, as is proved both by the appearance of the 

 country and the poverty of its vegetation, and also by the fact 

 that the natives find it does not pay to cultivate except in the 

 damp ground close to the water. 



These thunderstorms of which I have spoken brought out 

 a tinge of green grass over the open ground surrounding my 



Topi HaRTEBEESTE i, [Damaliscus jimela). 



camp — " the country sweated green," as a Zulu would have ex- 

 pressed it. There was a broad level valley behind, overlooked 

 by my ridge, and in this the topi antelope used often to collect 

 towards evening or in the early morning. They were sometimes 

 literally in thousands, the flat for a mile or more being covered 

 with them, collected in one enormous herd. During March all 

 the cows seemed to have calved, and I used to enjoy watching 

 the gambols of the troops of light fawn-coloured calves, racing 



