xxyii ANIMALS WHICH PROVIDE MEAT, ETC. 273 
granti brightii , though I rather fancy that that is 
another name for the notata. All these variations run 
into each other and merge so gradually that he would 
be a wise man indeed who could lay down any sharp 
subdivision. In the south of the Protectorate the 
gazelle hardly ever leaves the plains, but the northern 
varieties are often found in scattered bush. He is a 
confidential beast, and may be shot at and missed, 
followed and missed again, till he eventually succumbs, 
in this characteristic resembling the jack snipe. The 
meat is good, but it is just as well to refuse the liver, 
as it is more often than not infested by worms. A fair 
head of Granti typica or Robert si would be 26 inches, 
though I have measured one of the former 31J inches. 
The northern varieties run about 23 inches, the “haul” 
perhaps an inch longer. 
Thomson s Gazelle forms the farmer’s tit-bit, his flesh 
being the most succulent of any antelope. Tommies, 
as they are usually termed, are, however, unfortunately 
very destructive to young crops, more especially young 
wheat, and this bump of destructiveness is leading to 
their very rapid reduction. Thus round the shores of 
Lake Naivasha there used to be many thousands, now 
it is doubtful if there are as many hundreds. Thom¬ 
son’s gazelle are widely distributed throughout the 
plains of the Highlands wherever there is decent 
grazing of short, sweet grass. They are not found 
where the grass is very long and rank, nor yet in dry 
barren regions far from water, where some form of 
Grant’s gazelle is almost certain to exist. An average 
weight of a ram would be 55 lb., but, curiously, they 
increase in stature and attain at least 70 lb. around 
and north of Rumuruti, at which spot Grant’s gazelle 
achieve their smallest development. In the same 
