t
subsequently developed into pleurisy. From the Masai women we tried to
buy some of the milk they carried in gourds; at first they seemed not
averse, but as soon as they realized the milk was not for our own
consumption, they turned their backs on poor Sabakaki and refused to
have anything more to do with us.

These Masai are very difficult to trade with. Their only willing barter
is done in sheep. These they seem to consider legitimate objects of
commerce. A short distance from our camp stood three whitewashed round
houses with thatched, conical roofs, the property of a trader named
Agate. He was away at the time of our visit.

After an early morning, but vain, attempt to get Billy a shot at a
lion[22] we set out for our distant blue mountains. The day was a
journey over plains of great variegation. At times they were covered
with thin scrub; at others with small groves; or again, they were open
and grassy. Always they undulated gently, so from their tops one never
saw as far as he thought he was going to see. As landmark we steered by
a good-sized butte named Donga Rasha.

Memba Sasa and I marched ahead on foot. In this thin scrub we got
glimpses of many beasts. At one time we were within fifty yards of a
band of magnificent eland. By fleeting glimpses we saw also many
wildebeeste and zebra, with occasionally one of the smaller grass
antelope. Finally, in an open glade we caught sight of something tawny
showing in the middle of a bush. It was too high off the ground to be a
buck. We sneaked nearer. At fifty yards we came to a halt, still
puzzled. Judging by its height and colour, it should be a lion, but try
as we would we could not make out what part of his anatomy was thus
visible. At last I made up my mind to give him a shot from the
Springfield, with the .405 handy. At the shot the tawny patch heaved and
lay still. We manoeuvred cautiously, and found we had killed stone dead
not a lion, but a Bohur reed-buck lying atop an ant hill concealed in
the middle of the bush. This accounted for its height above the ground.
As it happened, I very much wanted one of these animals as a specimen,
so everybody was satisfied.

Shortly after, attracted by a great concourse of carrion birds, both on
trees and in the air, we penetrated a thicket to come upon a full-grown
giraffe killed by lions. The claw marks and other indications were
indubitable. The carcass had been partly eaten, but was rapidly
vanishing under the attack