142 
ELEPHANT-HUNTING IN EAST AFRICA 
CHAP. 
occasional lesser koodoo or two, a little lot of impala, some¬ 
times, at one particular point, and rarely an odd bushbuck, are 
all that is seen, without counting the diminutive paa, and now 
and again a rhino, giraffe, or hippo spoor. Formerly there 
was a sprinkling of buffalo in small herds; but these the 
cattle plague swept off. The other game, however, was always 
scarce. It is easy to say that the conditions are not suited to 
its requirements—too much scrub and too little grass—but 
one cannot help wondering why some species have not become 
VULTURINES AND DOG, 
adapted to the land. Here are great stretches of uninhabited 
bush country with a perennial river running through it, and 
hardly any animals, though plenty of birds and of “ fly ” 
(tetse). 
On the Athi are three varieties of guinea-fowl. Towards 
the coast the small, delicate, little crested species, living in 
thick bush, is found—the tenderest of all on the table. In its 
middle course large flocks of the large and beautiful vulturine 
guinea-fowl are met with ; while higher up again comes the 
common horned kind. The second, though very wild and hard 
to get a shot at without a dog, becomes the veriest idiot when 
