316 
TO THE UASIN GISHU [ch. xii 
perhaps an extinct crater, and, looking from the rimrock, 
spied a koodoo bull in the bottom. The steep sides of 
the hollow were covered with a tangled growth of thorn 
scrub and cactus, traversed by rhinoceros paths. The 
bottom was more open, strewn with bushy mounds or 
hillocks, and on one of these stood a noble koodoo bull. 
He stood with his massive spiral horns thrown back, 
and they shifted slowly as he turned his head from side 
to side. Kermit stole down one of the rhino paths, save 
for which the scrub would have been practically im¬ 
penetrable ; it was alive with rhinos ; Kermit heard 
several, and Juma, who followed some distance behind, 
saw three. The stalk took time, and the sun was on 
the horizon and the light fading when, at over two 
hundred yards, Kermit took his shot. The first bullet 
missed, but as for a moment the bull paused and 
wheeled Kermit fired again, and the second bullet went 
home. The wounded beast ran, Kermit, with Juma, 
hard on the trail; and he overtook and killed it just as 
darkness fell. Then back to camp they stumbled and 
plunged through the darkness, Kermit tearing the sole 
completely off one shoe. They reached camp at ten, 
and Juma, who had only been working half the day, 
took out some porters to the dead bull, which they 
skinned, and then slept by until morning. Later, on 
his birthday, he killed a cow, which completed the 
group ; the two koodoo cost him ten days’ steady 
labour. The koodoo were always found on steep, rocky 
hills ; their stomachs contained only grass, for both 
beasts were shot when grazing (I do not know whether 
or not they also browse). The midday hours, when the 
heat was most intense, they usually spent resting ; but 
once Kermit came on two which were drinking in a 
stream exactly at noon. 
