129 
CH. VI] KONGONI AND ZEBRA 
together, 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 difficulty in looking 
through them and marking every movement 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 the muscles under the skin. The very 
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