492. Great and Small Game of Africa 



through wood so dense that one has difficulty in running oneself, ducking 

 their long necks to pass under the branches as they plunge along with 

 their rocking-horse gait. But although they may enter dense bush in their 

 search for some favourite food, they do not penetrate far into such cover. 

 So much is this the case, that when traversing thickly-wooded country, if 

 giraffe spoor is seen, it is a sign that more open ground is not far off; and 

 I have, on occasion, after a long weary struggle through tiresome scrub, 

 hailed with delight such evidence that we should soon reach easier going. 



The cows sometimes get very fat, and then their meat is unsurpassed 

 by that of any African animal, and none will keep so long. It is hardly 

 credible, but a fact, that even when travelling (so that it has to be carried 

 in the sun for many hours every day) in Equatorial Africa, if properly 

 treated, it will keep quite good for a week easily in fine weather, and even 

 longer sometimes, for it seems rather to dry up than decay. The way to 

 manage it, or any meat, on the march is to have it tied up in a covering 

 of leafy sprays, but with nothing else over it, a stick being introduced into 

 the bundle to stiffen it ; and as soon as the camp is reached, it should be 

 undone and hung up under the shade of a tree till the next morning. An 

 old bull is quite uneatable. 



These animals are very difficult of approach, in a general way, for they 

 are extremely keen-sighted, and their towering height enables them to 

 command a wide view. When several are together, as is generally the 

 case, they are especially hard to stalk ; since it becomes impossible to keep 

 out of sight of all those different pairs of eyes, up among the tree-tops, at 

 once ; and if, as sometimes happens, they are accompanied by other game, 

 the difficulties are still further increased. It is then only by the most 

 careful, painstaking stalk, exercising every precaution, regardless of sun, 

 thorns, and other inconveniences, and very likely spending a long time over 

 it, that the hunter can hope to arrive within shot. Even then many 

 disappointments result, for the animals are probably moving about, so that 



