ON SAFARI. RHINO AND GIRAFFE 
99 
done. But as I went back to mount the sorrel he struggled 
to his feet again and disappeared after his companion 
among the trees, which were thicker here, as we had reached 
the bottom of the valley. So I tore after him again, and in 
a minute came to a dry watercourse. Scrambling into 
and out of this I saw the giraffes ahead of me just begin¬ 
ning the ascent of the opposite slope; and touching the 
horse with the spur we flew after the wounded bull. This 
time I made up my mind I would get up close enough; but 
Tranquillity did not quite like the look of the thing ahead 
of him. He did not refuse to come up to the giraffe, but he 
evidently felt that, with such an object close by and evident 
in the landscape, it behooved him to be careful as to what 
might be hidden therein, and he shied so at each bush we 
passed that we progressed in series of loops. So off I jumped, 
throwing the reins over his head, and opened fire once more; 
and this time the great bull went down for good. 
Tranquillity recovered his nerve at once and grazed 
contentedly while I admired the huge proportions and 
beautiful coloring of my prize. In a few minutes Captain 
Slatter loped up, and the gun-bearers and saises followed. 
As if by magic, three or four Wakamba turned up immedi¬ 
ately afterward, their eyes glistening at the thought of the 
feast ahead for the whole tribe. It was mid-afternoon, 
and there was no time to waste. My sais, Simba, an excel¬ 
lent long-distance runner, was sent straight to camp to get 
Heller and pilot him back to the dead giraffes. Beside 
each of the latter, for they had fallen a mile apart, we left 
a couple of men to build fires. Then we rode toward camp. 
To my regret, the smaller giraffe turned out to be a young 
bull and not a cow. 
