CHAPTER VIII 
HUNTING IN THE SOTIK 
Our next camp was in the middle of the vast plains, by 
some limestone springs, at one end of a line of dark acacias. 
There were rocky koppies two or three miles off on either 
hand. From the tents, and white-topped wagons, we could 
see the game grazing on the open flats, or among the scat¬ 
tered wizened thorns. The skies were overcast, and the 
nights cool; in the evenings the camp-fires blazed in front 
of the tents, and after supper we gathered round them, 
talking, or sitting silently, or listening to Kermit strum¬ 
ming on his mandolin. 
The day after reaching this camp we rode out, hoping 
to get either rhino or giraffe; we needed additional speci¬ 
mens of both for the naturalists, who especially wanted 
cow giraffes. It was cloudy and cool, and the common 
game was shy; though we needed meat, I could not get 
within fair range of the wildebeest, hartebeest, topi, or big 
gazelle; however I killed a couple of tommies, one by a 
good shot, the other running, after I had missed him in 
rather scandalous fashion while he was standing. 
An hour or two after leaving the tents we made out 
on the sky-line a couple of miles to our left some objects 
which scrutiny showed to be giraffe. After coming within 
a mile the others halted and I rode ahead on the tranquil 
sorrel, heading for a point toward which the giraffe were 
171 
