204 
ON SAFARI 
demoralised me, and now my “ sighting ” was too high, 
and the ball passed harmless overhead. Off scampered 
those weird wildebeests, their bucking heads and whirl¬ 
ing tails half seen through clouds of dust. I watched 
them for miles, and knew that my star had set. In the 
broiling noontide heat, I walked down to our camp on 
the Athi. 
Under the shade by the river stood four waterbuck 
—the first of the white-ringed species (. Ellipsiprymnus ) 
that I had then seen in East Africa. These I left severely 
alone, having fine examples shot in the Transvaal. There 
was one bull among them, but his head was poor, as are 
those of all his kind in Equatoria. For the 30 -in. heads 
of this you must go to the tropic of Capricorn. Here, 
in East Africa, Cobus defassa is the master-form. 
Work as I would that evening—and I spared neither 
my men nor myself—I could not retrieve the bungle of 
the morning; for, amidst abundant game, not a single 
wildebeest could we descry. My ten friends had 
evidently cleared out of the country, and no others 
remained within our radius. 
Throughout these Athi Plains, and in wide areas of 
the Rift Valley, one. notices that where the greatest 
abundance of game is seen, there exists, at this season 
(August—September), scarce a vestige of grass or 
verdure. Yet, hard by, lie stretches of coarse sour 
grass totally neglected and uneaten, and where no game 
can be seen. This latter sort of grass, with its flowering 
heads, resembles a crop of wild oats. Its special utility 
is not obvious, and it is hard work walking through it. 
The contrast is remarkable. The sweetness and rich 
quality of the other kind of grass is attested by the 
closeness with which it has, at this season, been cropped 
by the game. On reaching spots where great herds had 
been grazing, one marvels what they had. found to eat 
on them. There is but naked earth, pulverised by a 
thousand hoofs. 
Towards sunset I succeeded in getting two balls into 
quite the best hartebeest bull I had yet seen. Darkness 
