Creek on slopes of Kenia near first elephant camp. 
with shield and spear and head-dress of 
nodding plumes, held a dance near the 
race track. As for the races themselves, 
they were carried on in the most sporting 
spirit, and only the Australian poet Pat¬ 
terson could adequately write of them. 
On August 4th I returned to Lake Nai- 
vasha, stopping on the way at Kijabe to 
lay the corner-stone of the new mission 
building. Mearns and Loring had stayed 
at Naivasha and had collected many 
birds and small mammals. That night 
they took me out on a springhaas hunt. 
Thanks to Kermit we had discovered that 
the way to get this curious and purely 
nocturnal animal was by “shining” it 
with a lantern at night, just as in our own 
country deer, coons, owls, and other creat¬ 
ures can be killed. Springhaas live in big 
burrows, a number of them dwelling to¬ 
gether in one community, the holes close 
to one another, and making what in the 
West we would call a “town” in speaking 
of prairie dogs. At night they come out 
to feed on the grass. They are as heavy 
as a big jack-rabbit, with short forelegs, 
and long hind legs and tail, so that they 
look and on occasion move like miniature 
kangaroos, although, in addition'to mak¬ 
ing long hops or jumps, they often run al¬ 
most like an ordinary rat or rabbit. They 
are pretty creatures, fawn-colored above, 
Tree-ferns on slopes of Kenia near first elephant camp. 
