A BUFFALO^-HUNT BY THE KAMITI 131 
he stationed me among some thin thorn-bushes on a little 
knoll, and drove the game by me, hoping to get me a shot 
at some wildebeest. The scattered thorn-bushes were only 
four or five feet high, and so thin that there was no diffi¬ 
culty in looking through them and marking every move¬ 
ment of the game as it approached. The wildebeest took 
the wrong direction and never came near me—^though they 
certainly fared as badly as if they had done so, for they 
passed by Kermit, and it was on this occasion that he 
killed the big bull. A fine cock ostrich passed me and I 
much wished to shoot at him, but did not like to do so, 
because ostrich-farming is one of the staple industries of 
the region, and it is not well to have even the wild birds 
shot. The kongoni and the zebra streamed by me, herd 
after herd, hundreds and hundreds of them, many passing 
within fifty yards of my shelter, now on one side, now on 
the other; they went at an easy lope, and I was interested 
to see that many of the kongoni ran with their mouths 
open. This is an attitude which we usually associate with 
exhaustion, but such cannot have been the case with the 
kongoni—they had merely cantered for a mile or so. The 
zebra were, as usual, noisy, a number of them uttering 
their barking neigh as they passed. I do not know how it 
is ordinarily, but these particular zebra, all stallions by the 
way, kept their mouths open throughout the time they were 
neighing, and their ears pricked forward; they did not 
keep their mouths open while merely galloping, as did the 
kongoni. We had plenty of meat, and the naturalists had 
enough specimens; and I was glad that there was no need 
to harm the beautiful creatures. They passed so close 
that I could mark every slight movement, and the ripple of 
