A FAITHFUL WIFE 



259 



not at first aware, as we had never tried it. The skin is nearly 

 as thick as that of the buffalo, and tremendously tough. 



I now sent two of my men back to camp to fetch some of 

 the porters to help carry home the quantities of meat, and con- 

 tinued my walk through the wood. I soon came upon another 

 giraffe, equally free from shyness or suspicion as were those 

 already killed, but, as I was not very anxious to secure it, it 

 escaped. My wanderings finally led me down to the bush- 

 steppe, where I saw plenty of ostriches, but too far off to get a 

 shot even with the long-range weapons we had with us. I also 

 came upon another pair of giraffes, which gazed at me inquisi- 

 tively and made no effort to escape. Though there was really 

 no need to secure any more meat, I could not refrain from 

 firing at the male. Mortally wounded, he tried to save himself 

 from falling by standing with forelegs wide apart, whilst he 

 swayed his long neck to and fro. A second shot brought him 

 down. His wife ran off at the first shot for scarcely two hundred 

 paces and then remained standing, gazing sadly at her mate, not 

 even moving away when we busied ourselves about his corpse, 

 which we covered over with thorny branches to protect it from 

 hyenas and other beasts of prey. 



The next day's march led us by good sandy paths first 

 along the southern base of the mountain, where we had to cross 

 many such deep channels hollowed out by rushing torrents as I 

 have already described, then we skirted the eastern base, after 

 which we bore in a northerly direction. 



We passed quite close to two little Masai kraals with low 

 huts made of thin pliable stakes stuck in the ground in a circle 

 and bent towards each other at the top, the spaces between the 

 stakes being filled in with interlaced branches, the whole 

 plastered over with a mixture of cow-dung and earth. There 

 is no opening except a small one for entrance and exit. As 

 the cattle are all brought into the central space, round which 



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