EAST AFRICA AND ITS BIG GAME. 
238 
went out on the left bank of the Abarri river below our 
camp, and noticed on the open plain buffalo, zebra, 
hartebeest, eland, rhino, ostrich, Granti, mpallah, 
steinbock, and wart-hog, but all so wild as to be 
almost unapproachable. I stalked some eland, but 
after a wearisome crawl only got a long shot, which I 
missed, and the whole morning’s bag consisted of only 
a couple of wart-hog, one with very fine tusks. I got 
the first in a curious way, for I had put up a fine buffalo, 
out of a bush well out of range, who galloped off at 
once, and disturbed the midday siesta of the wart-hog, 
whom I spied as he sat up on his hams to have a good 
look round. Directly he had settled himself down 
again, I stalked up, from behind the tree under which 
he was lying, to within twenty yards and shot him 
through the spine as he lay. The other one I secured, 
on the way back to camp, as he was feeding with two 
others so greedily that they never noticed me until I 
got to within thirty yards of them. 
The wart-hog is a most ungainly brute, considerably 
larger than the ordinary wild boar, and derives his name 
from four wart-like excrescences situated upon his head. 
He is almost naked, except for a few sparse bristles on 
his body and a thin mane of coarse long hairs running 
from between the ears to half-way down the ridge of 
the back, and, in proportion to his size, has a long tail, 
which he defiantly erects when disturbed. He lives 
with his family in burrows, and roams about the plains 
in search of food, but, during the midday heat, may 
usually be found lying up under a bush or shady tree. 
