African Game Trails 
21 
and zebra; and evidently the attack was 
made in such fashion that the oryx had no 
more chance to fight than the zebra. 
The zebra were of both species, the 
smaller or BurchelPs, and the Gravy’s, 
which the porters called kangani. Each 
animal went in herds by itself, and almost 
as frequently we found them in mixed herds 
containing both species. But they never 
interbreed, and associate merely as each 
does with the oryx. The kangani is a fine 
beast, much bigger than its kinsman; it is 
as large as a polo pony. It is less noisy 
than the common zebra, the “bonte 
quagga” of the Boers, and its cry is totally 
different. Its gaits are a free, slashing trot 
and gallop. When it stands facing one the 
huge fringed ears make it instantly recog¬ 
nizable. The stripes are much narrower 
and more numerous than those on the small 
zebra, and in consequence cease to be dis¬ 
tinguishable at a shorter distance; the ani¬ 
mal then looks gray, like a wild ass. When 
the two zebras are together the coloring of 
the smaller kind is more conspicuous. In 
scanning a herd with the glasses we often 
failed to make out the species until we 
could catch the broad black and white 
stripes on the rump of the common “bonte 
quagga.” There were many young foals 
with the kangani; I happened not to see 
any with the Burchell’s. I found the kan¬ 
gani even more wary and more difficult to 
shoot than the oryx. The first one I killed 
was shot at a range of four hundred yards; 
the next I wounded at that distance, and 
had to ride it down, at the cost of a hard 
gallop over very bad country, and getting 
torn by the “wait a bit” thorns. 
There were a number of rhinos on the 
plains, dull of wit and senses, as usual. 
Three times we saw cows with calves trot¬ 
ting at their heels. Once, while my men 
were skinning an oryx, I spied a rhino less 
than half a mile off. Mounting my horse I 
cantered down, and examined it within a 
hundred yards. It was an old bull with 
worn horns, and never saw me. On an¬ 
other occasion, while we were skinning a 
big zebra, there were three rhinoceros, all in 
different places, in sight at the same time. 
There were also ostriches. I saw a par¬ 
ty of cocks, with wings spread and necks 
curved backward, strutting and dancing. 
Their mincing, springy run is far faster than 
when the bird is near by, it seems. The neck 
is held back in running, and when at speed 
the stride is twenty-one feet. No game is 
more wary or more difficult to approach. 
I killed both a cock and a hen—which I 
found the naturalists desired even more 
than a cock. We got them by stumbling 
on the nest, which contained eleven huge 
eggs, and was merely a bare spot in the 
sand, surrounded by grass two feet high; 
the bird lay crouched, with the neck flat on 
the ground. When we accidentally came 
across the nest the cock was on it, and I 
failed to get him as he ran. The next day 
we returned, and dismounted before we 
reached the near neighborhood of the nest. 
Then I advanced, cautiously, my rifle at 
the ready. It seemed impossible that so 
huge a bird could lie hidden in such scanty 
cover, but not a sign did we see until, when 
we were sixty yards off, the hen, which this 
time was on the nest, rose, and I killed her 
at sixty yards. Even this did not make the 
cock desert the nest; and on a subsequent 
day I returned, and after missing him 
badly, I killed him at eighty-five yards; 
and glad I was to see the huge black-and- 
white bird tumble in the dust. He weighed 
two hundred and sixty-three pounds and 
was in fine plumage. The hen weighed two 
hundred and forty pounds. Her stomach 
and gizzard, in addition to small, white 
quartz pebbles, contained a mass of vege¬ 
table substance; the bright-green leaves 
and twig lips of a shrub, a kind of rush 
with jointed stem and tuberous root, bean 
pods from different kinds of thorn-trees, 
and the leaves and especially the seed ves¬ 
sels of a bush, the seed vessels being en¬ 
closed in cases or pods so thorny that they 
pricked our fingers, and made us wonder at 
the bird’s palate. Cock and hen brood the; 
eggs alternately. We found the heart and 
liver of the ostrich excellent eating; the eggs 
were very good also. As the cock died it 
uttered a kind of loud, long-drawn grunting 
boom that was almost a roar. Its beauti¬ 
ful white wing plumes were almost unworn. 
A full-grown wild ostrich is too wary to fall 
into the clutches of a lion or leopard, save 
by accident, and it will master any of the 
lesser carnivora; but the chicks are preyed 
on by jackals and wild cats, and of course 
by the larger beasts of prey also; and the 
eggs are eagerly sought by furred and feath¬ 
ered foes alike. Seemingly trustworthy set¬ 
tlers have assured me that vultures break 
