GAME ON THE COAST AND ITS DEPREDATIONS 69 
miles off. At the latter place three lions were present. One 
is glad to record that two of them were accounted for in the 
next few days. 
The leopard also has a long tale of destruction to his account. 
Takaungu is a favourite haunt of his, and more than one human 
being there has fallen victim to these savage brutes. 
Cheetah are rare, but are to be found on the coast here and 
there. It is a pleasure to know that they are neither as 
destructive nor as savage as the lion or leopard. Serval cats 
are a source of greater trouble in the chicken yard than any- 
where else. The careful housewife, and even the happy-go- 
lucky bachelor, often have to deplore the destruction of their 
best fowls by a Serval cat, or so the houseboy will tell them. 
Possibly the wild cat is blamed when perfectly innocent, but 
the chickens disappear. 
I am informed that buffalo are to be found on the mainland 
close behind Mombasa. They are certainly present at Utange, 
a village near Utwapa creek, distant about eight miles north of 
Mombasa, for Mr. de Lacey’s plantation at one time suffered 
considerably from their depredations. I have not heard of 
any haunting Takaungu, but from Kilifi creek to the lowlands 
of the Sabaki there are several herds to be found. It is 
impossible to get on even terms with them in the thick bush, 
and as they rarely appear in open ground during the daytime 
the sportsman has very little chance of bagging one. A 
short while ago the mail runner from Mombasa was tossed by a 
buffalo on the road a few miles south of Malindi. After 
throwing the man into the bush, the buffalo proceeded to 
examine the mail bag, but, finding that the contents were 
mostly dry and unappetising official correspondence, he left 
the bag severely alone. 
On the Sabaki lowlands there are several herds. One, 
numbering twenty-five, was seen on open ground last January, 
and there are several smaller lots in the neighbourhood. 
Apparently the natives live in wholesome dread of these 
animals, and one rarely hears of them being hunted and killed. 
There is no doubt that they are rapidly increasing in number. 
Of the antelope, bush buck and water buck are to be found 
in considerable numbers scattered up and down this district. 
