102 
EAST AFRICA AND ITS BIG GAME. 
night vigil, especially as all I got for my hard work 
were two little gazelles, one of them smaller than a 
hare, belonging to the KirkiL species, and the other 
a female steinbock. I found on my return that H- 
had not fared much better, as his bag only consisted of 
two hartebeest. 
The following day we returned to Taveta. On the 
way I saw a very fine giraffe bull, and tried for him, but 
could not get within range, as he never stopped striding 
along, and eventually I lost sight of him altogether. 
It is hopeless to expect to approach these animals on foot 
if they are moving, for, though appearing to travel 
very slowly, they cover a great deal of ground at every 
stride. I came across two good wart-hog near the 
forest, and had a shot at one, but missed disgracefully. 
On returning to Taveta we found our nearly finished 
house presenting quite a palatial appearance. It con¬ 
sisted of three large rooms and a big courtyard, intended 
as a drying-yard for heads and skins of game. The 
roof was thatched and the interstices of the framework 
filled in with grass and Indian-corn stalks, while the 
walls were lined with red American sheeting, which ex¬ 
cluded the dust, and at the same time admitted plenty 
of air. That night we dined and slept for the first 
time in our headquarter house, and gathered some of 
the early fruits of our garden, in the shape of mustard 
and cress, which had come up in an amazingly short 
time; the turnips, potatoes, radishes, peas, and beans 
had also begun to show, but there were no signs of the 
lettuces, onions, or celery. 
