THE GUASO NYERO 
301 
ground. The naturalists were very anxious to obtain a 
specimen of this form from its southern limit of distribu¬ 
tion, to see if there was any intergradation with the south¬ 
ern form, of which we had already shot specimens near its 
northern, or at least north-eastern, limit. The distinction 
proved sharp. 
On the day in question we breakfasted at six in the 
morning, and were off immediately afterward; and we did 
not eat anything again until supper at quarter to ten in the 
evening. In a hot climate a hunter does not need lunch; 
and though in a cold climate a simple lunch is permissible, 
anything like an elaborate or luxurious lunch is utterly 
out of place if the man is more than a parlor or drawing¬ 
room sportsman. We saw no sign of giraffe until late in the 
afternoon. Hour after hour we plodded across the plain, 
now walking, now riding, in the burning heat. The withered 
grass was as dry as a bone, for the country had been many 
months without rain; yet the oryx, zebra, and gazelle evi¬ 
dently throve on the harsh pasturage. There were innu¬ 
merable game trails leading hither and thither, and, after 
the fashion of game trails, usually fading out after a few 
hundred yards. But there were certain trails which did 
not fade out. These were the ones which led to water. 
One such we followed. It led across stretches of grassland, 
through thin bush, thorny and almost leafless, over tracts of 
rotten soil, cracked and crumbling, and over other tracts 
where the unshod horses picked their way gingerly among 
the masses of sharp-edged volcanic stones. Other trails 
joined in, and it grew more deeply marked. At last it led 
to a bend in a little river, where flat shelves of limestone 
bordered a kind of pool in the current where there were 
