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GKEVY ZEBRA MAKE AND 1-OAL 



After re;ic'liiiif>' Nairobi in British East Afri- 

 ca, the startiiii"- point of the hunting safaris 

 (faravans) th;it go out in large numbers every 

 season, with a hundred and ten native porters 

 the exjiedition left the Ugand;i road at Gil-Gil, 

 skirting tile Abadare Mountains and marehing 

 on rai>idly nortli of Mount Kenia toward the 

 Uasliu Ncru River, one of those mysterious 

 streams that has no outh't to tiic sea; for, al- 

 thougii of great volume, it flows into the Larian 

 Swamp and disa])pears. 



It had been the intention to seeure camels in 

 order to |)ress on into the almost waterless 

 country that lies up toward the Abyssinian bor- 

 der — the country of the Randile, Boran, and 

 Samburra tribes that inhabit the country to the 

 westward of Somaliland. Runners had been 

 sent forward two weeks ahead to procure these 

 useful beasts of burden, but it was found im- 

 ])ossible, and the ])lans had to be changed and 

 the necess!iry water Jiad to be carried in canvas 

 bags constructed for the emergency. 



Witli lightened lo.uls the s.ifari ni.ide good 

 time, .averaging d.iiiy ni.irehes of over twenty- 

 seven miles, .and arri\ing at tiie first o.asis or 

 w.ater hole on tiie fourtii day ; then going still 



turtlier nortii until a large cncami)ment of the 

 Samburra tribe was reached on the edge of the 

 great desert of thorn bush crossed by rocky 

 ridges and volcanic escarpments. 



Water indeed was scarce here. The .mim.ils 

 of the surrounding country were forced to visit 

 the sandy stretciies of a dried river bed and 

 tlicre dig through the surface in order to get 

 at the hidden s))rings. Here blinds or hide-ups 

 were constructed and the animals were ])hoto- 

 gr.iphed as they came down to drink. 



From the fresh spoor, or tracks, there were 

 found to be many species fre(iuenting the neigh- 

 borhood, elephant, rliinoceros, lion, leop.ard, hy- 

 ena, giraffe, oryx, impala, Ciranti and geronok 

 gazelles. Grew zebra, wild i)ig. w.irt hog. bab- 

 oon, and monkeys of different species — and 

 str.mge to rel.ite on one occasion three unusual 

 \isitors. in a country where w.iter is so hard to 

 get — a butt.ilo. .1 w.iterbuck and a lesser kudu. 

 There were ni.iiiy v.irieties of vulture and eagle, 

 ni.ir.ibou stork, guinea fowl, sand grouse and 

 wild |)igeons. Also in the thorn bush were to 

 he found those strange, little horned creatures 

 not larger tli.in r.ibbits. the dik-dik. 



After spending .some weeks in this hot conn- 



