20 
ON SAFARI 
settled in groups further away, forming an outer circle, 
and amidst these I saw over the grass the sharp cocked 
ears of jackals. Some crowned cranes also stalked 
through the group, but these were merely locust- 
catching, and had no interest in our procedure. The 
case was different with their congeners, the adjutants or 
marabou, several of which, dropping from the sky, fell 
into line with the outer circle of vultures, while 
others continued sailing overhead. The policy of these 
latter seemed to be to make sure that the feast would 
“go round.” They wanted to see how much zebra we 
intended to leave behind. Sailing aloft is no trouble to 
them, and they did not mean to descend till sure of at 
least a few mouthfuls apiece. Within half-an-liour the 
nearer vultures had disappeared. They had not gone, 
but, being tired of waiting, had squatted down to sleep 
in the grass. Some jackals had done the same, but 
others stood sentry. Elmi Hassan (my Somali hunter) 
now pointed out a new arrival—three hyenas. These, 
however, kept at safe distance. 
On other occasions, vultures have continued circling 
overhead during the entire process of off-skinning. But 
ere one has retired fifty yards down sweeps the whole 
crowd with mighty rush of wung, assembling around the 
carcase in a surging, seething, tearing mass. 
This zebra (Equus burchelli-granti) was a stallion in 
his prime, apparently eight to ten years old, and ex¬ 
hibited (what is unusual in East Africa) the paler, 
shadow-like stripes interposed between the main black 
bands. The striping, broad and boldly contrasted, as in 
all E,ast-African examples, extended completely over the 
whole body, including the tail, and down the entire leg 
to the fetlocks. This is the form once differentiated as 
E. chapmani. 1 The further south it is found the less 
complete becomes the striping of the zebra. In the 
typical Equus burchelli of Cape Colony (now probably 
extinct) this striping was confined to the body only, the 
1 I notice that Mr. F. C. Selous refers to this East-African form 
{in lit.) as E. granti. 
