^ tX LIBRI5 ERNEST ALAN VAN VLECK /^4^^ M^ j;.iiiiif(oaj;>. ', s l i _o r ary FOR THE PEOPLE FOR EDVCATION FOR SCIENCE LIBRARY OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY WITH FLASHLIGHT AND RIFLE VOL. II WITH FLASHLIGHT AND RIFLE A RECORD OF HUNTING ADVENTURES AND OF STUDIES IN WILD LIFE IN EQUATORIAL EAST AFRICA BY C. G. SCHILLINGS TRANSLATED BY FREDERIC WHYTE WITH AN INTRODUCTION 1!Y SIR H. H. JOHNSTON, G.C.M.G., K.C.B. ^, ■ .^ "^cm ILLUSTRATED WITH 302 OF THE AUTHOR'S "UNTOUCHED" PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN BY DAY AND NIGHT VOL. II London : HUTCHINSON AND CO. PATERNOSTER ROW 1906 \ Contents of Vol. II CHAP. XIX. MOKE LION-HUNTINC; EXPERIENCES XX. LEOPARDS ....... XXI. THE HY/ENA-DOG. THE LYNX, THE WILD CAT. AND THE OTTER ..... XXII. THE ANT-BEAR, THE PORCUPINE, THE ^VILD BOAR, AND SMALLER MAMMALS XXIII. HY/ENAS AND JACKALS .... XXIV. THE ANTELOPES OF EAST AFRICA . XXV. GAZELLES AND DWARF ANTELOPES XXVI. APES AND MONKEYS .... XXVII. STALKING EXPEDITIONS IN THE NYIKA . XXVIII. NIGHT-SHOOTS ..... XXIX. VELT CONFLAGRATIONS XXX. HOSTILE FORCES ..... XXXI. THE PRESERVATION OF AFRICAN GAME . V PAGE 111 397 413 427 439 470 516 537 557 627 635 645 704 -^ Contents of Vol. II CllAl'. PAGE XXXII. A RACE OF WARLIKE SHEPHERDS: THE MASAI 716 ENVOI . . . . . . . . .729 AlI'ENDIX A. A FEW WORDS AISOUT HERR C. G, schillings' COLLECTION OF EAST AFRICAN MAMMALS . . . . . • 7Z5 APPENDIX B. A SYNOPSIS OF HERR SCHILLINGS' COLLECTION OF BIRDS .... 747 VI List of Illustrations in Vol. II Vultures feeding on tlie Remains of a Lion ..... Lioness about to spring upon a Donkey My First Lioness Lioness photographed at a Distance of only about Three Yards . Lioness killing an Ox The Camp ..... Spotted Hycena alaout to spring on a Donkey ..... A Full-grown Leopard William Orgeich Prince Lriwenstein at Work Spotted Hytena making off with the Body of an Ass A Good Example of Protective He semblance .... Scene on the Bank of the Pangani River A Tree-badger's Home Hundreds of Vultures and some Mara bous and Jackals Spotted Hyrena and Jackals feeilins. on a Carcase .... The Lafitti Mountains View on the Rufu River near tht Hohnel Rapids Our Camp at Sunset . Elands Vultures looking out for Food A Black-backed Jackal disturbed uhile drinking ..... Striped Hyi^na making ofi" with Zebra's Head .... Striped Hytenas .... 44S Black-backed Jackals . Jackal making off with the Leg of an Antelope .... A " Fissi " trying to drag away tiie Carcase of an Ass . Spotted Hyiiena .... 377 Remains of a Rhinoceros . 379 Spotted Hyrena feeding on the Carcase 3S3 of a Mule .... Spotted Hya'na making for a Goat 3S7 Herd of Fringe-eared Antelopes 393 A Lesser Kudu Skin . 397 Herd of Elands .... Wounded Bull Gnu 399 Three Tame White-bearded Gnus 405 Gnus ...... 409 Herd of Gnus .... 413 White-bearded Gnus . Bull (Jnu pausing before drinking 415 Zefiras and Gnus A Pair of White-bearded Gnus in the 417 Enclosure at Weiherhof Gvuzenith 419 Fringe-eared Oryx 42 1 Grant's Gazelles and Fringe-eared Oryx A Party of Impallas . 422 A Female Waterbuck Hartelieests .... 423 Female Gerenuk Gazelle 427 Kongoni, or Coke's Hartel)eests A Concourse of Zebras, (bius, Harte 429 beests, and Gazelles 435 Wild Animals at a .Salt-[io()l 439 Grant's Gazelles . . • 5i7i 519 440 (irant's Gazelles in the High Grass Musk-antelopes .... 442 The Strange Gerenuk Gazelle Mountain-reedbuck 443 A Herd of Female Grant's Gazelles 449 Raphia and other Palms, Tamarinds 454 and Baobabs .... "Mbega" Monkey, or \\'hite-taile( 455 Guereza ..... A Troop of Baboons out on the \'elt 460 Baboons ..... 'AGE 461 463 466 467 470 471 473 475 477 481 483 483 485 489 493 495 497 501 503 505 507 509 5'.> 516 521 525 527 531 533 535 537 5.39 545 549 List of lllustnitions in \'ol. II -♦) The Baboon at the Moshi Station an< its Playmate .... Capturing a Galago Papyrus . . . . ■ A Cock Masai Ostricli and Two Ikii A Bird's-eye View of Masai- Nyiki Snow-capped Kilimanjaro . The Kaiser Wilhelm Peak . Nests of White-billed Weaver-bird in "Umbrella" Acacia-trees . A Great Hull Eland . Gnus and Zebras on the Salt-encrusted Plains near Lake Natron Some Specimens of Schillings' Giraffe Egrets Crested Cranes .... White-bearded Gnus . White-bearded Gnus, Hartebeests. and Zebras .... A Flock of Sacred Ibises . A White-headed Sea-eagle Vultures ..... Orgeich preparing Ornithologica Specimens .... Preparing Giraffe-skins Preparing the Hide of the First Buffalo I shot A Pool of Yellow Wa'^er . Carriers indulging in a Wash Meerkats A Secretary-bird on the Velt Waterbuck ..... Oryx Antelopes .... Vultures on the W ing Papyrus- woods to the West of Njir Swamps ..... Haunt of Elephants and Rhinoceroses 617 Herd of Zelnas .... Klipspringers .... Filling up a Native Pit-fall " Pori "..... A Curious Photograph of a Maned Lio and an Ox .... Female (Grant's Gazelks taking t flight ^ Vultuies ..... ■AGE I'.AGE One of my Guides 639 551 ( irant's Gazelles .... 641 555 Grant's Gazelles moving out into the 557 Open ..... 643 559 The Pick of my .\sl^ Der U'eidnnmni {The Sportsman) just as I wrote it at the time. I thought it better not to alter it in any way, as the events were still fresh in my mind when I set to work at it. In the course of the following years other travellers had opportunities ot showing similar prowess as sportsmen on the Kikuyu tableland. In one case I was excelled in the number of lions killed in a single day. All these were cases of first-rate Austrian and English sportsmen with excellent weapons at their disposal. Had I possessed similar rifles instead of the obsolete single-barrelled one of unsatisfactory make I could have made a bi^'ger bag^. Under such difficult conditions, handicapped by so many unfavourable circumstances, weakened by fever, and with poor w^eapons, I have reason, I think, to be satisfied with what I did. Such a success, as I have already said, never came my way again. I had a very exciting experience with an old maned lion in the autumn of 1899, on the right bank of the VOL. II. T,']'] I With Flashlight and Rifle -* Panoani River. Lions had been showing" themselves for some days in the vicinity ot the camp. Almost every night I had heard them roaring, chiefly at certain spots by the river. I had succeeded in getting a number of the striped hya?nas which 1 had niyself discovered. I had set traps — small, but strong, Weber's iron traps — in order to catch " kinguguas," as the natives call hyaenas and jackals. It happened that an old lion stepped upon one of these and caught himselt by one of the claws of the front paw, breaking the iron chain, of course, at once. Evidently he had not got the iron off his paw, his efforts to do so probably causing him too much pain. So he had taken himself off with the iron clinging to him, dragging his leg, step by step, for a couple of hours, probably into the thorn-thicket bordering upon the steep declivity of the Nyika. Little by little he had succeeded in almost destroying the snare with his teeth, but the spring and guard still clattered round his claw. Early next morning we looked for his tracks, and followed them up through the thorn-thicket with great diffi- culty, expecting every moment to come upon the slipped- off snare. Suddenly I heard, straight in front of me, the deep growling of the infuriated lion, and at the same moment the beast started off afresh with the snare dangling beside him. I was surprised that the powerful beast could not shake it off it was so small. Following him, always with the utmost caution, through the extraordinarily dense underwood, I got quite close to him five or six times, but each time he made away before I could get a shot at him. Several times I actually caught sight of him straight 3/8 ^ More Lion-Hunting Experiences in front of me, but so indistinctly that I could not make sure of my shot. To shoot at a venture in such circum- stances would have been suicide. Now, again, I hear him growling angrily. Every nerve is tense ; the outlines oi things seem to quiver in the shimmering sunlight re- flected trom the sand of the velt ; the thorn, becoming denser and denser, made progress almost impossible. There ! — another angry growl — the trap is heard to clatter several times against the ground, and, with a mighty stamping, the lion once again has made off But this time, with a shake of his paw, he has thrown off the trap upon the sand, and our pursuit is in vain. My clever Wandorobo, however, managed to make out his tracks as he went off, first with great leaps and bounds, then falling into a kind of ambling trot. Imme- diately I take up the pursuit afresh. Dripping with sweat, I keep on for about a quarter of an hour ; then on again for as long, until at last I see the lion, still raging and growling, evidently in great pain from its wound, starting again on its flight, growling and stamping. No one who has not heard it can form any notion of the way a full-grown lion simply thunders along over the hard ground of the velt. I follow him as speedily as I can, with all my pulses beating ; several times I come within sight of him. At last I have him distinctly before me in a small glade. He turns his head towards me. My rifle rings out, and he falls, as though struck by lightning, with a dull thud and a dying growl. A second shot, fired for safety's sake, assures me of my coveted prey. My joy and satisfaction over my hard-won trophy know no bounds. 381 With r-kishlii^ht aiul Rifle -^ Now we realise, for the first time, that our pursuit has taken us nearly six hours, and that our throats are parched ; but we bear up cheerfully. The thought of the royal booty we have captured against our expectations gives us new stores of strength, and enables us to forget our thirst and the scars and scratches we have got on face and hands from the thorns. Once again I had killed a big lion, and under exceptional conditions. It has happened to me— only too often, unfortunately — to have merely come in sight of lions, whether single speciniens or several of them together. Either I have seen them for a second only, and they have been out of range, or in high grass at close quarters when I have not been ready to fire, or just at the moment ot their disappearing into a thicket. Thus it was once I came upon a lioness standing near a zebra she had been tearing to pieces. Numbers ot vultures, drawn by the lioness's prey and settling upon the acacia-bushes all round, attracted my steps to the place, where the lioness had taken up her position in the early morning under the shade of a bush. But by the time I had got within two hundred paces she had taken cover and had made off over the side of the hill. In very similar circumstances I happened once upon a lion and two lionesses in high grass, also without being able to fire a shot. On another occasion I followed a lion-trail. The lion had killed a young zebra during the night, and had dragged it a long way over the velt to one of those rivulet-beds that dry up after the rainy season, there to devour it at 382 ■^ More Lion-Hunting Experiences leisure. I had followed the tracks for some time, and was looking for a good way down into the gorge, when suddenly I saw the animal — a lioness it proved to be — in the distance. In another moment it had disappeared. Late in the afternoon, one day in December 1900, coming back from a fruitless search after elephants, I observed a great number of vultures on the branches of a MV I'lKSi LIONESS leafless tree. Presently I saw a big-maned lion thunder- ing- along over a glade about four hundred paces away. A hasty shot missed its mark, its only effect being to make the lion increase its speed. The wind at the time was unfavourable. On this occasion I happened to be accompanied by my taxidermist Orgeich, and I decided, although we were both very tired already after a ten- hours' march, to pursue the lion. We set out after it at With inashlight and Rifle -* once, and succeeded in tracking it. Curious to relate, the lion led us round and round almost in a circle for two hours or more ! Often I came quite near him. but each time he would rush off again, then once more slow down to a walking-pace. At last I was obliged to give up the chase, as the tracks could no longer be made out — they crossed and re-crossed so often. With just a little better luck I might have succeeded in getting a shot, as the lion let us come so near him sometimes in the thicket. In contrast with the other lion which I had killed, this one gave out no sound all the time we were following him. The other growled chiefly, no doubt, on account of the pain he was suffering. I had unusual luck in an adventure with lions which I met with on November loth, 1903, between Meru Mountain and Kilimanjaro. We had been obliged to encamp out on the velt without water, and the following morning my caravan had to move forward to the nearest watering-place, seven hours" march away. Shortly before reaching this — a small swamp with a pool of muddy water in it — I noticed a great gathering of wild animals of all kinds, which, however, I left unmolested. Herds of oryx, zebras, and Grant's gazelles stood quite near us to right and left, and a great herd of giraffes. The splendid animals had come cjuite close before they saw me, and pounded away again in full flight. As usual, I was marching at the head of my caravan, followed, as always, by my guide and carriers. Suddenly one of my Wando- robo pointed to a spot to our left, among a lot of stinging- 3^4 -») More Lion-Hunting Experiences nettles and tall dry grass, and exclaimed in low tones : " Lungatun ! " 1 snatched my rifle out of the hands of my bearer, realising suddenly as I did so that it was not loaded with the proper cartridges, as I had no intention of doing any shooting that day. However, there was no room for delay. The negro and I rushed to the spot where the lions had disappeared. With frightened face the Ndorobo pointed to where he had seen them. All this happened so quickly that there was no time to think of changing cartridges ; all I could hope for was a snapshot at long range. In front of us to the left rose some rocky hills. In between was a thicket of impenetrable thorn-bushes and bowstring hemp. Making my way breathlessly up the rocks, I suddenly saw in front of me, barely fifteen paces away, a large lioness standing broadside to me, her expressive head turned in my direction, and her glittering eyes fixed upon me. She was a magnificent sight. Instinctively, and as quick as lightning, my eye darted in every direction all round her, to see if there were any other lions by, then in the fraction of a second I pointed my rifle at her head ; but before I could pull the trigger she made an immense spring forward, high in the air with outstretched paws, and disappeared into the thicket. Pull the trigger, however, I did, and the report rang out while she was in the air. It was an exciting moment tor me, tor it was probable that the animal, unless mortally wounded, would come for me. Only with lead-tipped bullets can you hope to effect a mortal wound under such conditions ? Wounded lions 3^5 With Flashlight and Rifle -^ are apt to be dangerous. But this time I was in luck ; fifty paces away the lioness lay dead, killed by the neatest snap-shot that i ever achieved, right through the shoulder. The male lion, which the Wandorobo had seen at the same time, had imfortunately disappeared in the meantime. My taxidermist, who came up now with my men, and whom I now told of my success, went searching" all over the place for the body. His delight was almost as great as my own when at last he saw the beautiful lioness stretched out before him. By way of contrast to these experiences of mine, I shall (|uote here the description of a lion-hunt which took place in the year 1813, from the pen of John Campbell. Those were the times in which elephants, rhinoceroses, and oiraftes were still to be found in those reo^ions in South- West Africa now belonging to Germany, before the numbers of all the other wild animals had begun to be thinned. In those days the sentries on the ramparts of Cape Town were still treated to nocturnal concerts by the lions. In South Africa lions were still numerous at this time, and in the neighbourhood of Graaf Reynet this John Campbell, a clergyman in the service of an English missionary society, met two lions one day in the course of his travels. Here, in his own words, the quaint simplicity of which I leave absolutely unaltered, is his description of how he killed one of them. " When approaching a f^ountain of water, where we intended to halt, two of the horsemen came galloping towards our wagons, on which my wagon-driver told me they had seen a lion. On reaching us they informed us 386 -* More Lion-Hunting Experiences that two lions were crouching among the reeds below. All the wagons immediately drew up on an ascent opposite the place where they lay, with their wheels firmly chained, lest the roaring or appearing of the lions should terrify the oxen and make them run off with the wagons, which frequently happens on such occasions. Thirteen men then drew up, about fifty yards from ih(t LIONESS rHOTOGRArHIil) AT A DISTAN'CE OF ONLY ABOUT THREE YARDS lions, with their loaded muskets ; and such as were only to be spectators stood upon a heap ot rocks, about fifty yards beyond them, guarded by three armed men, lest the lions should not be wounded, or only slightly, and be able to rush upon us. When all this was in readiness, the men below poured a volley of bullets towards the animals, when one of them, the male, made off seemingly slightly wounded ; but the other was disabled, so that it 3^7 With Flashlight and Rifle ^ remained in the same position. The dogs ran towards her, making a great noise, but ventured no nearer than five or six yards. On the second fire she was shot dead. A bullet was found under the skin, which she must have received long before, as the wound was completely healed. She had received many wounds froni our people, especially a severe one in the mouth." Thus was carried out a lion-hunt in South Africa a hundred years ago. Elsewhere the missionary enlarged frequently on the habits and customs of lions — from hearsay, naturally — and states, amongst other things, that a Hon will carry away an ox upon his back and a sheep in his mouth. He bases this statement upon the difference in the weights of the two animals. If it must be admitted that the killing of lions in those days, with the primitive guns then in use, was a much more dangerous undertaking than it is in these days of perfected rifles, there is yet no reason to be surprised that these animals were so quickly exterminated wherever the colonists settled down. We have a picture presented to us here of a body of Europeans with about thirteen muskets setting out cautiously upon their warlike enter- prise. How far less courage is involved in this kind of thing than in the hunting of lions with sword and spear, as was the custom of the natives in those days. The lion's knell had sounded already then. Now he is disappearing quickly. Pere Guilleme, a missionary, who was stationed for many years at Tanganyika, tells me that the "white fathers" there have killed thirty-seven lions in the course of only four years — for the most part by the -.88 -♦5 More Lion-Hunting Experiences use of strychnine, with which they have poisoned the remains of animals l<;illed by hons. In 1900 I had an encounter with three Hons, which might easily have proved fatal to me. After a march of nearly ten hours in the driest season, my caravan had come to the foot of a hill and my tired men had pitched camp. Following the course of a stream, I went out for a short walk round the camp, armed, contrary to my usual custom, with only a fowling-piece. A number of bald fruit-pigeons (J'iiiago caha nudirostris) presently caught my attention, and I went after several, which were perched upon the branches of a lot of fruit-trees in the thick brushwood of the river-banks. Thus occupied I had strayed about a thousand paces from the camp, which was now out of sight. The pigeons were very shy. Suddenly I came upon the tracks of several lions. Almost involuntarily I followed these for a couple of hundred yards or so, and was just about to make my way down into the dried-up bed of a freshet, which acts as a tributary to the stream in the rainy season, when I became conscious of a shadow to my left. Turning round, I beheld a lioness twenty-five paces off, eyeing me quietly. She stood in a small glade in the thorn-thicket, and I concluded that she had made a resting-place for herself among the dense green grass by the side of the stream. Almost simul- taneously I saw, six or eight paces from her, two other lions moving forward, half covered by the grass. All three formed a most impressive sight, witnessed thus from so near. For several seconds neither I nor the lions made a move — I bitterly regretting that I had brought only my 389 With Flashlight and Rifle ^ fowling-piece, loaded with No. 8 cartridges, the only cart- ridges I had with me. But the lioness presently turned away from me quite calmly, took several steps along the border of the gorge, and then disappeared suddenly among the bushes. The others disappeared simultaneouslv. I waited motionless for a minute where I was. then hastened back to the camp to equip myself properly for a pursuit, when on returning I found that the tracks of the lioness could not be made out. I at once erected a trap for her, tying up a white steer as a bait. Shortly after ten o'clock that night I heard an angry roar, and early the next morning I found a large lion with a heavy mane caught in the trap, which he had dragged away into the thorn-thicket several hundred yards. He had not hurt himself in the least with the chain or iron. While I was taking a photograph of him he made a startlingly quick and determined rush at me, in spite of his encumbrances ; but I brought him down with a single shot. Ne.xt night two lionesses were entrapped. And as after this good haul no other lions were to be seen or heard near the stream, 1 concluded that these must have been the three lions I had met. Here I may observe that lions and all other cats scarcely injure themselves at all when caught by the paw in these traps, unlike hyai^nas, jackals, foxes, and other animals. I attribute this to the comparatively quiet bearing of the cat tribe when they find themselves in such difficulties. I have said that lions are not often to be met with by daylight in the wilderness ; but there have been other occasions, of course, during my years in Africa, when 390 -♦) More Lion-Hunting Experiences their unexpected appearance has put me in a tight corner. One lioness I can still see standing a few paces away from me, outlined clearly against the dun-coloured, sun-scorched velt, her yellow eyes gleaming- as they watch me. But the traveller may have to wait years and years for such an experience. Among sportsmen who have been lucky in this respect may be mentioned Duke Adolf Fried- rich von Mecklenburg, who shot a fine lion on his very first hunt in German East Africa. This is a record feat. Never shall I forget the exciting hours I spent one day in 1899 following up the tracks of a party of no less than fourteen lions. Five hours it took me to get within sight of them, in a thorny jungle with an undergrowth of bowstring hemp. I had never come across so large a party before. The tracks of their mighty paws stood out clearly in the fine dust ol the velt. There is an extraordinary fascination in following up tracks ot wild animals in this way, more or less hap- hazard. As you move forward your imagination goes ahead of you, picturing in a hundred clifterent fashions the way in which you Vv'ill at last come upon your quarry. In this case — perhaps it was just as well for me — the lions became aware of me as they lay in the shade of some acacia-trees, just as 1 was scrambling up a hill, and in a moment they had all disappeared When I got to the spot where they had been lying, I was just in time to catch a last glimpse of them disappear- ing into a thicket at the bottom of the hill. A strong smell of lions was there to reinforce the tracks and prove to my senses that 1 was not the victim of an illusion. Such 39^ With Flashlight and Rifle ^ experiences are exasperating to the hunter, but it is some- thing for the mere observer to have had the monopoly of so wonderful a spectacle. The same kind of thing, on a lesser scale, happened to me often in East Africa. I was particularly unlucky on one occasion when I encountered the finest and oldest lion I have ever seen. It was while I was stalking waterbuck that he came into sia^ht. Half-hidden as he was in the bush, I could not at first make out what kind of animal he was. In another second he came into full view, only to turn round immediately and make oft. My bullet was too late ; but a scanty streak of blood showed me that it had not completely missed him. Great were my annoyance and disappointment about a fort- night later to learn that the remains of a larQe-maned lion had been found near this spot. They were lying in so dense a thicket that even the vultures had not been able to get at him. The ftesh had been completely devoured by maggots ; but from the extraordinary number of long hairs I could see that it must have had a wonderful mane, almost black. However, I got possession of its mighty skull, from which some teeth were missing, proving that it must have been of considerable age. I cannot say abso- lutely that this must have been the lion at which I had shot, but it certainly seems most probable. Among the thirty-seven lions which I caught by means of the iron trap manufactured by R. Weber, there were several strong, old specimens which had dragged away the traps for several miles. The killing- of them entailed very difficult and dangerous pursuits, as in these circum- stances they almost always made lor cover. 392 E 0 ■>, n Z i "2- x 1 =• r. f i. ijgr 0 ~ z> 7T ^ v-^ VOL. II. -^ More Lion- Hunting Experiences Among my donkeys and cattle there was always some animal available as bait for the lions, owinQf to the ravas^es of the tsetse-fly. When one of them had been attacked by this scourge, instant death from a bite by a lion was a real release from the lingering agony of death by blood- poisoning. Often the lions would have so covered themselves over with reeds and grass that even at a distance of ten paces I could hardly make them out, and had to climb a tree to get a shot at them. My most notable exploit, as regards the capturing of lions, was the bagging of a party of nine, consisting of three old lionesses and six others, of which four were full-grown young ones. Three had appeared one night, four the next, and the following night the last two. This was the only time I have known an old lioness to be tempted successfully by a goat. I had, however, so placed the trap and the goat that the lioness, so soon as she had seized the latter, was able to get off unhurt, and make her way again into a sedgy swamp hard by. There she kept so quiet that one of my men wandering past stick in hand, ignorant of his danger, almost knocked up against her. Fortunately he escaped. He took to his heels and never stopped until he got safe back to camp. It is astonishing how quickly lions, and even leopards and hyrenas, are able to drag these heavy traps, which weigh about thirty kilograms, and which have anchors stuck in the ground. Some branches of the Wanyamwesi people are very fond of lion-flesh for food. They believe that it makes them strong and brave ; they are particularly fond of the fat parts. The nine lions 395 With Flashlight and Rifle ^ taken by me in the three nights all made their way into the stomachs of my Wanyamwesi, although their chief man declared to me, when the seventh lion was finished, that he thouo-ht he would like some other sort of vension for a change ! A new case of toujours pcrdrix ! We brought away with us in gourds, however, a supply of the surplus fat from the lions, and it served for quite a long time as a much relished delicacy. Almost on the same spot where I had killed the nine lions, I tried a year later to get hold of an old lioness accompanied by several small cubs ; judging by the tracks on three successive nights, the whole family visited the neighbourhood of my traps without, however, paying any attention to the bait. It was long my keen desire to bring back to Europe a full-grown lion alive, and the Berlin ZooloQ^ical Gardens had been good enough to place at my disposal for this purpose several transportable cases, capable of being taken to pieces ; however, the impossibility of g<,^tting bearers to- carry an iron chest itself weighing 500 lb. all the way from the wilderness to the coast, obliged me to give up all hope of this. Since the days of the Romans this feat has never been achieved. All the lions that have been brought to- Europe have been caught young, and have been brought up in captivity, including the so-called forest-bred lions and those presented as gifts by Oriental rulers. So far as I know, we are without information as to the means by which the ancients got possession of the great number of lions which made their appearance in the arena. Hundreds of lions were sometimes killed in the arena in a single show, though a good many of these may have been young ones. 396 THE CAMP XX Leopards THE leopard undoubtedly plays the principal role among all the beasts of prey to be found in East Africa. Unlike the lion, he is to be found every- where. The colouring of the leopard, so distinct and conspicuous when seen in a cage, blends so curiously with the animal's natural surroundings as to become almost imperceptible. So much so that, even by day, he is able to pass close to you without being observed. Leopards have no special predilection for settled haunts, though they are chiefly to be found in rocky mountain-passes where there is plenty of cover. They are fine climbers, and often pass the day in the airy and shady heights of a tree-top. I know of a case of a leopard springing upon a negro, who was up a mango- tree, and killing him instantly with a bite on the throat ; and I have heard of several other such occurrences. It is difficult to give an idea of the lightning speed VOL. II. 397 3 With Flashlight and Rifle ^ with which leopards move, either when attacking or in full flight. Curious to relate, although these animals are so common, I find, fi*om my diary, that I only met them at close quarters twelve times — not counting the numbers I have trapped. These encounters were always sudden and unforeseen. Of peculiar interest was an encounter I had with a leopard near the town ot Pangani, on the very day of my setting out on my great expedition of 1899. Ac- companied by only one man, I had returned to the town to obtain some more reserve carriers. At the head of these I was hurrying in the evening back to my camp, when I suddenly became aware of the continuous shrieking of a troop of baboons. From the cries and shrieks of the apes I concluded that a leopard had chased them, and, as some old and larQ-e male baboons peered from a monkey-bread-tree into the underwood close to our path, with signs of rage and cries of alarm, I attempted to get nearer, my gun ready in my hand. The underwood was almost impenetrable, and it seemed to me as it the leopard must be busy tearing a baboon to pieces under a baobab-tree. After a few steps in the direction of the monkeys, I heard something make off in the jungle, and at the same time the baboons clambered after it, whatever it was, screaming and chattering, up in the safe altitudes ot the tree-tops. As the thicket grew less dense I was able to get along more quickly, and, just as I was descending a glen, I noticed to the left, some thirty paces off, a powerful leopard, which had killed a young baboon, and -* Leopards was draoo-ina: it alono- bv the neck. The animal noticed me the moment that I, hindered by some branches, Hfted up my rifle to shoot, and it disappeared with a lig-htninedike flash, leavinof the monkey behind. The whole troop of them followed him high up in the branches. Unfortunately I had to make up for lost time and to hurry back to camp, and so was unable to seek out the leopard and to kill him. V'ery likely the " chui " was opportunely chased and devoured by lions ; I know that this happened in two other such cases. I have several times come in contact with leopards in various parts of the velt, especially when I have approached their haunts, which, during the midday hour, are generally in the tall grass. Once I nearly trod on a leopard. It was out in the open, and he slipped out from between some bushes so suddenly that I involuntarily started back. I missed my first shot at him, and although my second wounded him I did not bring him down. To shoot a leopard in full flight with a rifle is a most difficult teat. You have reason to rejoice if you miss completely, and do not merely graze him, for a wounded leopard is a most dangerous opponent. At first I could not forbear shooting at a leopard whenever I came upon one, but I learnt by experience to become more cautious. How dangerous a leopard can be was brought home to me by one experience I had. I had discovered a track in the sand made by a leopard trailing some booty after him. Cautiously 1 approached a gully made by the rain to which the track led me. I had soon made the circuit 401 with Flashlight and Rifle -r. of this, and ascertcuned that the animal could not yet have left it. Then suddenly I spotted the leopard, who was lying on top ot a small antelope under the root of a tree which had been washed down by the rain. Man and beast espied each other at the same moment. Serpent-like the leopard crept, leaving his prey in the recess, to a corner of the gully, intending to take Hight 1 Quick as lightning I fired, but aimed too far back and only wounded him. Almost at the same moment the shouts of my people, who had stayed behind at the entrance to the gully, told me that they had seen the leopard. The animal was bleeding profusely. Cautiously, step by step, 1 crept after him, until I saw him crouching acrain where I had fired at him first, and half hidden by some roots. The distance between us was about five-and-twenty paces. The sides of the gully were steep and hard to climb. 1 he moment I raised my rifie again to shoot, the leopard sprang towards nie. The next instant he seemed to touch me ! Then in another instant he was gone. He had sprung rigtit back again and disappeared in the gully ! It had all happened in the fraction of a second, and I had not time to fire again. It must have been the way we involuntarily drew back — I and the two men who were with me — that caused the beast suddenly to take to rtight. I shall never forget this situation, nor the sharp, short snarls uttered by the leopard. Afterwards I found several drops of blood in the sand, only a few inches from where I had stood, and my gaiters also were be- 402 -♦) Leopards spattered — a proof of how close the animal had been, A few minutes later I came upon the leopard ao'ain, and this time a well-placed bullet did for him. But I attribute this to good luck rather than to my own skill. Such attacks by leopards may easily terminate fatally. Mr. Hall, my host in Fort Smith at Kikuyu, related to me, among other stories, the evening before I shot my three lions in that vicinity, that whilst hunting antelopes near the Nayasha Lake he met with a mishap because he had incautiously shot at a " chui." He was only convalescent at the time, in fact just risen from a sick- bed (after an unlucky encounter with a rhinoceros), and was hunting again for the first time, accompanied by an Askari, when he went after some impallas. A leopard had the same end in view, but was speedily shot at by Mr. Hall. Quick as lightning the beast sprang on the hunter and hugged him tight ; undoubtedly the leopard would have killed him, had not the Askari shot the aninial while actually on his master. Mr. Hall was injured for a very long time and was permanently lamed, the sinews of one leg being torn. On two other occasions I have been attacked by wounded leopards, but happily I was able to kill the enraged beasts in time. I can only advise the greatest caution when hunting these animals. The natives declare that leopards have a pronounced taste for human Hesh, like the man-eatingf tio^ers of India. I have not been able to obtain positive evidence of the truth of this, but I will not deny that certain old leopards distinguish 403 With Flashlight and Rifle -^ themselves in this direction ! On occasions, certainly, leopards attack men in a very desperate manner. A very remarkable case was related to me by Herr von Gordon, who. in the company of his brother and the late Herr von Tippelskirch, met with the following ex- perience in German East Africa. They were sitting smoking by the camp-fire, when suddenly a little fox- terrier running about near them gave out a feeble yap and disappeared ! Like a flash a leopard had seized it from its master's feet. A general hue-and-cry led to nothing. The dog was lost. The astonishing part of the story, however, is that next evening the very same leopard stole a negress from the camp, but let her fall about eighty paces away. The previous experience had made every one more ready with their arms, and a quick fire had frif^htened the animal so that he had let fall his unfortunate prey — but dead from a bite on the throat. The chief food of leopards consists usually of apes and small antelopes and gazelles. In mountain woods they prey upon badgers, in rocky districts upon rock- badgers. The night-cries of the impallas and bush- bucks, and especially the weird shrieks of the baboons, herding in high trees, are caused, to my thinking, by the sudden attacks of leopards. At night time attacks on the sleeping apes are more practicable, tor a full-grown male baboon when awake is no despicable foe. The teeth of such an ape are longer than those of the leopard. 1 he character of the leopard is a remarkable contrast to that of the Hon. He is notable for his savageness, even 404 -* Leopards when quite young. Young leopards were brought to me in the month of February ; and in Zanzibar I obtained at the same time two cubs, which I brought with me to Europe. The call of the leopard is a peculiar, snarling, mewing, characteristically cat-like cry, and is often to be heard at evening and during the night ; I have sometimes heard it in the afternoon. Many authors declare that leopards seldom, if ever, touch a carcase as their prey, but rather seek some live animal to drink its blood. I have met with no evidence in proof of this statement, so often made as if from personal observation. Asa matter of fact, I have caught about forty leopards, and they were almost all secured by traps skilfully baited with dead game, whereas traps which were on certain occasions baited with live goats attracted the leopards less than the others. I have learnt, too, that my method of capture became much appreciated in East Africa after I had obtained such excellent results. Naturally many hundreds of my carriers have given descriptions of it all over the country. For two reasons these results which I obtained are perfectly comprehensible. Firstly leopards, according to several observations I have made, are accustomed to hang up the remnants of their prey on the branches ot trees or bushes, sometimes quite high up, alter they have devoured the heart and liver and buried the entrails. In this way the leopard unquestionably helps another of his kind to a meal that he has not been able to obtain for himself. In consequence ot this habit the attention 407 With ria^hli-bt and Rifle ^ of the leopard is drawn to any remains ot tiesh that he mav hap|)en to find. Leopards are endowed with a good share ot slyness and cunning — qualities which often make them avoid the snares laid for them. A well-set trap, baited with carcase, arouses their suspicion less than a wooden trap provided with a live goat. When I caught a leopard in an iron trap I was almost sure to get his mate a night or two after. I have caught and shot male leopards that weighed 145 lb. ; the females weigh considerably less. The leopard is a most dangerous animal w hen ensnared. It is an indication of his savage nature that on the approach of man he always tries to get as near as possible, raging, growding, and snarling the while. Should he manage to free himself from the iron, he is sure to make a violent attack on anv one near. He climbs up the tree as lar as the chains of the snare will allow. One morning I was informed that a leopard had been caught in a small trap which Orgeich, my taxidermist, had set the night before. " It is well set." he said briefly. " he will be caught fast ! " This assurance strengthened my belief that the trap, as usual, had been fastened on to a tree- trunk by means of a chain. Mv belief soon proved to be an error. As I approached the place where the trap had been set, a little bushy spot in the Fori, 1 saw the leopard making for me some hundred and fifty paces oft. trailing after him quite easily the iron chain and a wooden stake attached. This all happened so cjuickly that I had barely time to spring behind a little thorn-bush, whence I killed the enrao'ed beast with a well-aimed shot. 408 K«.!^^^.. X J. -^ Leopards Another time, at the beg-inning of my severe illness in 1902, on the banks of the Pangani River, an old and very powerful leopard had taken flight with the trap and grapnel and gone some distance in the sedge-grass, where I found him after following his track for some time. The reedy swamp, then dried up, was almost impassable, and it seemed marvellous to me how the animal, hampered with trap, chain, and staple, was able to get there at all. At each step we expected to come upon the leopard. We — that is, Captain Merker and myself — followed the track of the trap, in company with some blacks. Our companions soon found the situation unbearable, and only the trustiest of them remained with us. On we went in the seethincy heat, carefullv lookincr round us, and poking in the thick undergrowth with long poles from time to time. Suddenly a snarling and a clanking of chains were distinctly heard. Now was the time ! Mean- while we two " Wasungu " (Europeans) pushed our way cautiously in the marsh. Now and again we heard the ominous snarl — the clank ot the chain. The ground being so exceedingly dry it was impossible to make out a track ; we thought for some time that it was not with a full-grown leopard that we had to do. We pushed forward further and further. Suddenlv a deep growl made the natives take to their heels, calling out that they had clearly seen the head of a male lion ! They stuck to their assertion. Slowly we sought, inch by inch, to find a freer outlook in the marsh, by beating down the reeds with our poles ; Captain Merker and I, holding our rifles well up and expecting to see the beast 411 With Flashli<'-ht and Rifle ^ of prey appear at every moment or rustle ! ?ut. wonderful to relate, in spite of the continuous snarling we found it impossible to locate the exact spot where the beast was hidincr, and could get no further on account of the increasing thickness of the reeds. So we decided to fire several shots in the unexplored direction to kill the supposed lion. As appeared later the leopard was well hidden in a hippopotamus-haunt. I cannot say how much ammunition we had to expend. At last one of us must have managed to give the leopard his death-wound, judging by the silence which followed. Even then it was quite a long time before we manas^ed to make our wav inch bv inch to the dead beast, when we saw a fine specimen of an old male leopard. In the Masai district hunting-leopards {CyiKvlurus guttat^is) are very rare, and I have only seen two individuals, and then learnt nothing about them. But the " chui " of the Waswahili, the " ol ugaru geri " of the Masai, and the " mellila " of the Wandorobo is to be found in countless thousands nightly throughout the Nyika. He will long survive the last lion. 412 princp: i.owexstein used to take his share of the work of preparing THE ornithological SPECIMENS XXI The Hy^na-Dog, the Lynx, the Wild Cat, and the Otter THE sight of a pack of hy:ena-dogs (^Lycaon pictus) after their prev is one not easily forgotten. For the most part I have had only fleeting glimpses of them, whether on the plains or on the caravan-roads by the coast, or by the marshes, as they rushed after their quarry in long springs, two or three close on the track, the others following close behind, so as to cut off the retreat if necessary. The vv^onderhil picture of this chase passes quickly under a whirlwind of dust, and is more divined than perceived, only the heads of the prey and pursuers rising now and again above the reeds in the marsh. It passes before one like a phantom. I have found the hyasna-dog very rare in those districts through which I have travelled. This has been the experi- ence also of trustworthy observers in British East Africa. All kinds of game, even the strongest antelopes, fall VOL. II. 413 4 With Flashlight and Rifle -* a prey to these hy^ena-dogs. Close to the railway -station at KoroQfwe I once saw them after a waterbuck, which, however, was shot by an official ot the line before they could get at it. On another occasion I saw a herd of fourteen hysena-dogs hunting the gigantic eland, and I have seen them after small antelopes as well. In the year 1899 I had been following for nearly four hours the blood-tracks of a bull eland that I had shot, when, suddenly, still hastening forward. I saw to one side of me a troop of hyajna-dogs taking their noon- tide siesta under the shade of an acacia. The moment they saw me they slid off in all directions with their tails between their legs. Then they reassembled, halting for a moment in their flight and barking at me in strangely high-pitched tones — they were regular dog-like barks. With their ears pointed they came forward now like tame dogs in my direction until they got to within five-and" twenty yards, when they took to flight again to one side, and the whole oame becjan atresh. I was so engrossed in this rare sight that I did not shoot, but remained quietly crouching with my men. This encouraged the dogs to come nearer. This settled for me the question as to whether or not hyasna-dogs attack men. The natives say they often go for unarmed men. I do not know how long this might have gone on, but after about ten minutes the dogs seemed to have satisfied their curiosity, and some disappeared in the dry grass. I thought it time now to bring down two specimens with a double shot, whereat all the others took to fiight. 414 -^ The Hyaena-Dog J. G. Millais ^ speaks of the " good old days " in South Africa, when a well-mounted man of average weight could bring down a swift roan antelope {^Hippotragiis eqiiiinis) after a chase of four miles, a waterbuck after A UOUL) EXAMPLE OF PROTECTIVE RESEMBLANCE. A WOUNDED BULL ELAND LYING UNDER THE SHADE OF A THORN-TREE a chase of three miles, and an old kudu bull after a chase of two. These animals can have very little chance of escape, therefore, when chased by hy^ena-dogs. 1 J. G. Millais, A Breath from the Ve/cft. With Flashlight and Rifle ^ Hyc-ena-dog-.s, besides attacking the prey they actually sight, are given to following up tracks. They have a peculiar way of biting at the stomach of the pursued animal and tearing out the entrails. In this way they overpower even large antelopes. Twice I have observed them do this, and English authors as well as natives bear out what I say. The extraordinarily bright colouring of hyaena-dogs is toned down when seen from a distance. They look then uniformly dark and stand out conspicuously from their surroundings. There is not so much need for their coats to harmonise with the surroundings, as they do not seize their prey by stealth, but follow their tracks and chase them in hot pursuit. I once found live hycena-dogs, and on another occasion two, resting in the shade at midday ; another time I came upon a herd just as they were devouring a gerenuk-gazelle. On the whole they seem, as already stated, not to be very common in the Masai country, and my own observa- tions lead me to the conclusion that they are not so harmful as people make out. I consider it a great mistake to make scapegoats of the so-called "harmful" animals. The colonist does not realise that he cannot exterminate these without affecting the supply of other kinds of animals which are of value to him. When we make our way into new countries we have to consider the fauna as a whole. By destroying certain animals that seem to us ob- jectionable, we may injure all the others. The expert in these matters knows how our wild life at home is apt 418 The Hyaena-Do to suffer, from undue regard for the weak and persistent pursuit of the strong. Hyaena-dogs kept in captivity are extraordinarily savage, yet show a decided predilection for domesticated dogs. The idea that it would be possible to produce a A TREE-BADGER S HOME useful hound for the tropics by the crossing of such heterogeneous animals is hardly to be taken seriously, apart from the improbability of such a crossing being- effected. The sight of a troop of hya^na-dogs in full chase made me long for a good hunter ! 421 With Flashlight and Rifle h^ Among the other smrill animals ot prey in East Africa we find some beautitui wild cats and lynxes. Among the cat tribe the serval {Fc/is serra/) is much more common than the leopard. It is a long-limbed kind of cat, with black spots on a yellow ground, which frequents the bushes. The serval is an animal of nocturnal habits. I often managed to secure specimens in traps, but HUNDREDS OF VUL'I I I; 1 only occasionally did I happen upon one by day. It was long before I succeeded in catching- a perfectly black specimen. On the occasions ot my numerous elephantdiunts to the west of Kilimanjaro I came upon a very shy black cat at a certain spot continually. It was at a point on the high velt at a height of about 7,000 feet. While waiting for the elephants to make their appearance 422 ^ The Wild Cat in the wooded ravines below, I had many opportunities of watching her springing nimbly over the dense undergrowth, as she made her escape, but I could never get a shot at her. I had traps set for her, but without the desired effect, for it was only spotted hycenas that were caught niorhtlv. One mornino-, however, my taxidermist came to me with the joyful news : " A black serval has been caught." And with these words he held out before me a wonderful black female cat, on whose coat marks still blacker in shade were clearly perceptible. This, it would seem, is characteristic of these black servals, as it is of the blackish genet already referred to. 1 have noticed something of the same kind with dapple-grey horses. Next morning I caught another serval, a male, normally coloured — evidently the mate of the black female — in the same snare. The catching of this serval was a very satisfactory outcome of long days of watching and waiting. Hour after hour I had sat scanning the great lonely mountain through my field-glasses, on the look-out for signs of animal life, with no break in the monotonous silence but the mournful cry of the great grey shrike, or the flutter- ing by of mating pigeons {Coluniba arquatrix), or the momentary appearance of a black lynx, or, more rarely, of the grey wild cat {Fc/is libyca), a long-tailed and very timid species, more usually found on the plains. I got hold of four specimens of this animal. It is singularly like our domestic cat, both in appearance and manner of life. The caracal {Caracal iiubicus). an East African species of lynx, I also came upon. 4^5 With Flashlight and Rifle -^ Once when I was after some dwarf antelopes [Madoqua kirki) a small lynx came close to me, evidently intent on the same quarry. This gave me an excellent opportunity of observing- its habits, and I was able to kill it as a valuable addition to my collection. Another lynx came quite close to me when I was after some ostriches, and gave me an opportunity of brino-inp- off rather a remarkable double shot. The ostriches — sixty-four of them — had been near my camp for some days, but as they were moulting I had left them alone. However, I decided to shoot one of them for the collection of the Royal Museum at Berlin. It was not easy to get near it, but at last I brought it down at a distance of about two hundred paces. Then it was that the lynx came in sight, and with my second bullet I bagged it. The desert lynx is not to be met with so often in East Africa, I think, as in the north and south. The genets remain in hiding by daylight, and are often caught in traps. I once killed one which had sought refuge under the gable of a roof at Moshi. Generally speaking, the sportsman seldom comes across these smaller beasts of prey — such as genets, honey- badgers, ichneumons, etc. — in the daytime. I myself came upon an otter only once, though I found that the natives living by Lake Victoria possessed skins ot them. So it is at home. I remember that I very seldom saw these animals in daylight, and then only for a moment, when in my boyhood I followed their tracks over the Eifel Mountains on my father's estate. 426 j^'^ THE LAFITTI Mi )L' .N 1 Al N - XXII - The Ant-Bear, the Porcupine, the Wild Boar, and smaller Mammals THERE are strange dwellers on the velt, which the hunter is not likely to come across unless he is exceptionally lucky, or unless he goes to great trouble in ferreting them out of their burrows. Among these are the ant-bear {Orycteropiis ivertheri) and the porcupine [Hysii'ix afi'iccF-australis). One ot the greatest authorities upon the African fauna, Mr. Jackson, though constantly on the look-out for porcu- pines during his ten years' residence in East Africa, never once came upon one out in the open. The porcupine is nocturnal in its habits, and spends the dav in its burrow. I have never seen it at large, though I have picked up hundreds of dropped quills. Natives have brought me specimens of the animal, which they have grubbed out of their burrows, 427 %,. \\'ith Flashlight and Rifle -^. The ant-bccir, a stransfe-Iookino; animal with lona: snout and long tail and very strong sharp claws, makes a practice during the wet season of destroying the large ant-hills to be seen everywhere on the velt, in order to feed upon the milliards of white ants thus rendered homeless. Stretch- ing out its long thin tongue, it licks them up in hundreds. Professor Alatschie says of the antdx-ar that it is a marvellous creature, possessing the snout ot a pig, the head of an ant-eater, the ears of an ass, the legs of an armadillo, and the body of a kangaroo. A photograph of the ant- bear by night in the act of destroying the ant-hills in the I\hisai-Xyika country would be something worth trying, for. It would, however, be a verv troublesome undertakinor — I myself was unable to attempt it. i'he ant-bear lives in large deep burrows which you see in hundreds on the velt. Whilst hunting other game I have, dozens of times, tallen into these holes waist-deep when the velt w-as covered with grass. It would be useless to set traps in these holes in the dry season, or to attempt to get the animals out. During the drought they seem to have a winter sleep. The natives are sometimes able to get hold ot ant- bears, and it was thus I was enabled to send some skins and skeletons to Germany. The Royal Museum ot Natural History in Berlin had at the time only two or three specimens of the species, including one which had been presented by Captain Waldemar Werther, and to which his name has been attached. Only twice on the velt did I meet the beautiful black-and-white honey-badger or ratel iyMcllivora ratcl). 428 VOL. II. -m The Honey-Badger and Ichneumon which. leading" as it does, a nocturnal existence, is very seldom seen by man. The honey-badger has a predilection for flesh, and on this account is often trapped. Its vitality is quite extraordinary, and surpasses that of our own badger. Some years ago I surprised an old honey-badger with a very small young one on the velt, and was able to catch both. Now and again you may get a glimpse of the long- eared fox {Ofocyoji luega/otis), a curiously graceful animal with very long drooping ears, as it takes to flight almost from under your feet. You are apt to tread on their flat burrows, which lie just under the surface of the ground. These animals live almost entirely on insects; the stomachs of those 1 killed were full of beetles. In the month of July 1 found no less than ten full-grown specimens of this animal in one burrow. Every traveller on the velt must have some time or other come across that elegant marten-like animal the ichneumon. Of many kinds, and varying in size from that of a large weasel to that of a cat, they sometimes take up their abode in deserted ant-hills, in which also squirrels are sometimes to be tound. Ichneumons move about over the velt in parties seek- ing for prey. They eat anything that they can get hold of, animal or vegetable. Insinuating their way through the grass, packed closely together in a long undulating queue, they look in the distance like monstrous snakes. Now and again, as they move along, one of them will raise its head like a marmot and look round. Then all the others will follow its example, and with a clear cry ot alarm they 431 With Flashlight and Rifle ^ scurry back to their nearest hiding-place. Should this be an ant-hill, and we have the patience to wait an hour or two in hiding, we shall first see one little head, then several, peer out of the holes of their clay fortress, which soon is alive again with their activity. Now playing and romping, now assuring themselves of their safety, the little sprites run round and round the ant-hill. Squirrels behave in a similar way, though not in large numbers — alone always, or in pairs. Sometimes ichneumons are found in company with rock-badgers {Procai'ia) which, in like manner, often take up their abode in ant-hills. More frequently, how- ever, they are to be found in the rocky districts of the hills, high up or low down, according to the season of the year. These animals, as well as the tree-badgers, which dwell chiefly in forests, and especially in mountain forests, are closely allied to the rhinoceroses, a fact which is hardly credible at first sight. In German East Africa there are three kinds of rock-badgers [Pro- cavia johnstoui. Pr. nwssaiubica, and Pr. inatschiei), and two kinds of tree-badgers {^Dcndrohy7'ax validus, and D. neitnianui), curious, tiny, flat-footed animals. They are very like marmots in their ways, and the old experienced rock-badgers especially are not easy to ensnare. The tree-badgers have a quaint, scolding kind of cry. Hardly has the sun gone down and the camp-fires been lit when we suddenly hear above our heads in the great forest a rustling, a peculiar chuckling and mewing 4o- -^ The Tree-Badger of the tiny creatures there. Like elves these tree- badgers play about on the trunks of the trees, and the whole night they are coming and going over our heads. I have heard them, too, in wooded ravines on the plains, when I have been after elephants. In the branches of leafy trees they could be heard the whole night, their cries mingling with that of a cuckoo {Centropiis supcrciliosus) that often uttered its call in the early morning hours. " Tippu-tippu " the coast-people call this cuckoo. Tree-badgers are often visible by daylight. You may be making your way into the gloomy recesses of the forest, where the thick foliage shuts out the light of day, and the whole place seems void ot any sign of animal life. Suddenly a shrill cry of warning seems to rise from the red-footed francolin at your feet, and, terrified by its own cry, the rabbit-like little creatures run skilfully up the juniper and other high trees, to quickly disappear in the holes and crannies of the branches. These are the tree-badgers, the pelclc of the natives, the fur of which is made into coats and is much prized by the Europeans, who have lately taken to exporting it. The natives catch the peltries in snares, and immense numbers of these little beasts have been taken of late years. The pursuit of the tree-badger is carried on with great zest, like that of the Bega monkey, so that the animal is rapidly decreasing in numbers. The hut-tax imposed on the natives has the effect ot inciting them to a much greater destruction of the animals than they would under- 433 With Flashlight and Rifle ^ take of their own accord, as they can raise money by selling the skins to the trader. Immense quantities of skins find their way now to the trade-centres. In Aden and Marseilles, for instance, thousands and thousands ot antelope-skins are sometimes to be found. It is an open secret that the greater number of these skins are procured by armed native hunters for the agents of European firms. The British Government has long hampered the once thri\ing trade in antelope- hides, by a very severe tax on the steamers running to Aden, and this seems to be the only means of protecting game. Even so, hundreds of thousands of antelope- skins are exported as cow-hides ! This I have seen for myself Formerly they used to be sent off quite openly and only tied up ; nowadays they are covered with canvas mats. The same thing happens in East Africa with smaller animals — with the pelvic, for instance, and the Bega monkey. While those regions of the north of Africa which adjoin the Mediterranean possess a species of wild boar similar to our own in torm, we find south ot the Sahara quite another kind distributed over a wide area. In the Masai country a singularly unpleasing kind is found — the wart-hog, whose name suggests that it is not very beautiful ! It has a head covered all over with warts and protuberances that give it a very grotesque and ugly appearance. A second species, the river-hog, is found more in the neighbourhood of populous districts, and for this reason I seldom came across it. The wart-hog, however, 434 -^ The Wild Boar is frequently found in the Kilimanjaro region, and the big old boars afford the hunter good sport as well as fine trophies with tremendous tusks. Wild boars are very harmful in Africa, as everywhere else, in the plantations and fields, and are particularly hard to keep off the native plantations at night time. But the wart-hog is enabled, by its powerfully developed tusks, to wander over the unpeopled velt, and to find itself food by grubbing and ferreting. It is fond of fiesh when it can find any. Swine are endowed with very fine senses of hearing and smelling, but their sight is very weak. Big old boars have a deceptive resemblance to male lions when taking flight, on account of their mane, especially in the tall grass and with a bad light. More than once my carriers alarmed me with the cry that they had seen a lion taking- flio-ht when it was reallv a boar. One peculiarity of the wart-hog is that it frequently stays in the haunts of the ant-bear, especially during a period of great heat. One often finds several at a time in these burrows. ■ Wounded wart-hoo^s strike hard with their tusks, and great caution is necessary in hunting them. Owing to their uniformly grey colouring they are almost indis- tinguishable from the ground of the velt. Sometimes, even in the midst of thick cover, they burrow right under the ground. The wild boar will survive longer than most other members of the East African fauna, in spite of its being hunted. Even in the over-populated Germany of to-day 437 With Flashlight cuul Rifle ^ there are plenty of black wild boars. In the fever- haunted countries ot East Africa they may yet dwell for many a century. Since the above lines were written, it appears that a hitherto unknown species of wild boar has been discovered — somewhat intermediate between a wart-hog and a river-hoQf- 43^ i CHAPTER XXIIl Hyenas and Jackals A^THILE the striped hyaena is nirely to be seen V V and is notable for its timidity, the spotted hysna is to be met with all over East Africa. In con- junction with the vultures and marabous, they act as scavengers. They rarely leave a mammal of any size to rot. Wherever there is a dead body, whether it be of man or beast, the hycena is always to the fore. The animal-world of Africa is spread over immense areas, and the animals vary their haunts, much as do the nomadic races, according to the seasons. Thus it is that hyaenas are to be found now in one region, now in another. They congregate in great numbers wherever there is a tamine, whether it be the result of drought or of war. The larger beasts of prey — lions and leopards, for instance — provide a large proportion of the hyai^na's food. The hya:ina's keen scent draws him quickly to the spot where the huge cats have left the remains of their prey. Hyaenas make away with even the largest carcases at an extraordinary rate ; they can swallow immense 439 with Flashlight and Rifle ^ quantities of iiesh and bones, and can break bones of great thickness with their powerful teeth. Their habits are nocturnal. They do not like the heat of the sun ; young and tamed specimens are not able to stay with the caravan on the sun-scorched velt, even when they are full grown. When the sky is cloudy one sometimes sees hyeenas in search of prey in the late ^hi .^m. jH^' VUI.Tl'Kh.^ KKAl M.NEl) NEAR THE CAMP DAY AKTEK JiAV I.N THE HOPE OF FOOD afternoon, but generally they pass their day in the shade of the bushes or in caves and under rocks. I found young ones on several occasions during the spring months. There are generally three or four in a litter. The vicinity of the fox-like earths is trodden quite flat by the young ones. Quantities of skulls and bones lie round about, and vultures sit close to the young hyaz^nas in the early morning hours — a sign that they 440 rsfiwl HH HH H H y&AI 1 :H ^^^Hm^-^ ^ -^BB ! 1 ^M HiB^^^^^^^^^HR^^'!^^^^^^^' H ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^HH^^^ «> ^^^^^H ^^^^^^B^Hp, J |_ flUB' 1 -•) Hyaenas and Jackals pass the night on the trees close to the earth. I have often found a number of cinereous vultures, griffon- vultures, and king-vultures forming an amicable addition to the household of the young and old hycenas. During the day, too, I have often seen hyaenas tearing away at carcases, undisturbed by the hundreds of vultures, marabous, and jackals all around. None of these three species had any fear of the others. All were engrossed in satisfying their hunger as fast as possible. The jackals as well as the hyeenas like to bury themselves in the stomachs of the larger mammals. As darkness drew nigh, the hycenas would surround the camp, howling dismally ; they were not in the least afraid of visiting our premises by night to steal flesh, or even unappetising morsels such as skins or pieces of leather. The photographs I took by night show the greed with which hyaenas pounce on a carcase. Their strength is astonishing. A spotted hyaena can easily run off with an ass, as the reader will see for himself from the accom- panying illustration. Bohm saw them steal a human corpse and gallop ofi with it. I found the hyaenas timid and cautious when I tried to photograph them feeding by night. As Bohm remarks, they keep at a distance so long as the hunter is within range, but the moment he goes out of sight, if only for a few moments, the hyaenas are back again at the carcase. They are never taken by surprise, being possessed of very sensitive nostrils. Young hyaenas are distinctly marked ; when old they lose their marks more or less, and their colouring becomes VOL. II. 445 6 With Flashlio-ht and Rifle ^ more uniform. They are often mangy. During the famine-year, when hyaenas feasted upon human corpses, I killed some very fat specimens. Like the European fox. the hycena — the " fissi " of the Waswahili, " twiti "' of the Wanyamivesi, " ol egodjine" of the Masai, an " arvijet " of the Wandorobo — adapts itself to different localities and different conditions. Sometimes they are very shy, sometimes extraordinarily impudent. In some regions thev are satisfied with carrion, in Others they seem to crave for cattle and human fiesh. They seized a number ot my donkeys. One has most to fear from their attacks on dark, rainy nights. The reader may be surprised to hear that until 1899 one of the most disputed questions with regard to the fauna of British and German East Africa was whether there was such a thing in existence as a striped hytcna. Professor Matschie long held the opinion, for want of proof to the contrary, that either the aard-wolf {Proteles cristatus) was the only species to be found in these countries, or that if there was a striped species of hysena to be met with it must be one new to zoology.^ There had been other conjectures as to the existence of the striped species, but proof was not forthcoming to such distinguished observers as Richard Bohm, Hunter, and others. Captain Waldemar Werter believed he had found a striped hyaena, but there was a doubt as to whether he had confused what he saw with the aard- wolf Personally, I believe he did actually see a striped hyaena. ^ Paul Matschie, TJw Mammals of Ger/iian East Africa. 446 -^ Hyaenas and Jackals Oscar Neumann's stay of nearly three years in German and British East Africa seemed to have finally established the fact that only the spotted hy:ena was to be found in those regions. He stated, however, that, according to the natives, a beast of prey similar to the hyaena was to be found in pairs, and lived on the coast .and ate fish. In the autumn of 1896 I baited a trap one evening with a heron on the banks of Lake Natron, between Kilimanjaro and \^ictoria Nyanza. Next morning I found a striped hycena in the trap. Alfred Kaiser, who was well acquainted with the species on account ot his four years' sojourn on Sinai, declared this animal to be identical with the one he knew in Arabia. This seemed to dispose of the idea of confusion with the aard-wolf, but the slight differences between this specimen and the striped hycena already known were not to be discerned without adequate materials tor comparison. The information I had so far collected still left doubts in the minds of experts ; unfortunately I could not back up my theory by scientific proofs. These were still to seek, and could not be found in British East Africa, even by such keen observers as F. G. Jackson, A. H. Neumann, Lord Delamere, and others. This was reserved for the great journey through Masai-land which I undertook tor collecting purposes in the spring of 1899, By setting traps for hyeenas systematically I was able to procure sixty-six skins and skulls, as well as entire skeletons. Now, at last, all doubt was at an end ! A letter from Professor INIatschie informed me that a spotted 451 With Flashlight and Rifle ^ species named the Hyucna schilliugsi had been definitely included in the category of the animal species of East Africa known to science. What I now state clearly proves the tremendous difficulty of the investigation of an unknown fauna. You would say that such a common beast of prey as the hyaena would have come into constant contact with the sportsman, or even the non-sportsman, especially bv nightly ravages, and that, above all, the natives would have known it well. In the same way so distinguished an observer as Stuhl- mann was unable, during his stay on the Semliki, to obtain information of the okapi, which later became so famous, or of certain antelopes, as, for example, Hunter's hartebeest {Daiua/isciis huiiicri) or the bongo {Bdoccrciis euryccros), which had been seen by Europeans not long before. Of course, after my absolute proofs and those given by Professor Matschie, it was constantly stated by this or that person that they had long been acquainted with the animal in question. Such statements are easily made ! In an English work, Great and Simi/l Game of Africa, published in 1899, the striped hycena is said to be found only in Somaliland. The great whale-head {Balcvuiceps rex), which has become so celebrated, was for years after its discovery in the marshes of the Nile the unattainable desire of ornithological collectors ! How seldom does the European spy out a fox in pass- ing through woods and fields ! How proud I was in my younger days in the Eifel Mountains at home over having 452 irr.:\,^:^^ -»> Hyaenas and Jackals seen the wild cat on six occasions, and having killed three specimens ! Although I have made four sojourns in East Africa, only once have I seen the striped hyrena by day. At night I have noticed it twice, and I have trai)ped it 121 times. All natives who are at all acquainted with the animal world know the "kingugua" well. If you show them one that has been trapped they recognise it at once ; but it you question them about it, though its appearance is so distinctive and easily recognised, you are confronted with the most astonishing ignorance and that lack of desire to know which is a trait of the natives •of East Africa. ddie "kingugua" is much more feared than the spotted hya^^na ; it is said to be much more rapacious and aggres- sive. I cannot say how this may be. Perhaps the very wildness of the animal has been the cause of unjust sus- picions with regard to its savage nature. I know that on several occasions the natives laid the blame ot certain cattle ravages and fatalities on " my hycena " when leopards were unquestionably the real culprits ! In captivity both striped and spotted hyzenas are very ■conhding. In the Berlin Zoological Gardens I can call one away from its meal of flesh ! The animal prefers a caress to the satisfaction of its hunger. In 1902 I managed with great trouble to bring home to Europe in an iron cage a hyccna (//. sc/ii/Zii/gsi), caught in the Lafitti Mountains. It is still living. Its transport to the coast on the shoulders of forty coolies would never have been carried out but for the energy of my most 457 With Flashlight and Rifle -^ excellent attendant, Ombasha Ramadan, for I was very ill at the time. I have established the fact that the striped hysna is as commonly found as the spotted hyaena in some districts. In these cases the animals were much less rapacious than their spotted cousins. When caught in traps they always tried to hide their heads by pressing them against the earth in a very curious manner, as if playing at being ostriches — very different from the behavi )ur of the spotted hyaena, which snarls and struggles. Whilst following the course of the Pangani River, in the Kilimanjaro district, on Meru Abiuntain, Ngaptuk, Donje- Erok, the Njiri marshes, in tht^ IMatiom Mountains, by the Kibaya-Masai, Lake Natron, the Kitumljin, Gilei,and Donje TEng-ai volcanoes on Lake Natron, in Ukambani, in the Pare Mountains, and in the districts watered by the Umba River— everywhere I have found the striped hy:ena,^ and sometimes twice as often as the spotted hyiena. Ubiquitous throughout the desert are the jackals, whose habits are chiefly, but not entirely, nocturnak The beautifully coloured silver-jackal is common every- where ; but I found a second and larger species in the hilly districts {Cci/iis holubi). At night time silence reigns over the velt but for the howling of the hycenas and the plaintive cry ot the jackals, which are still on the move in the early morning, hours after the hyaenas have sought their hiding-places. 1 I had ihe pleasure of piesenting a specimen of my hytena to the British Museum. VOL. II. -»i Hyaenas and Jackals There is the greatest companionship between jackals and REMAINS OF >J.\K <_>!■ I ill-. MANY KlI I.XOCKKOIv^ >HUl BY THE " FUNDI " hyaenas, and sometimes jackals are at their ease in the company of the lion ; but lions, and leopards also, are apt to 463 With Flashlio-ht and Rifle -^ prey upon them. I have found the fresh remains of jackals lying about after the lion's feeding-time. A too bold comi)anion of the monarch had evidently fallen a victim to his venturesomeness. Generally speaking, however, jackals roam about the velt alone in search of their food, the steady breezes of equatorial Africa helping them to scent out a carcase at an immense distance. If I laid out a bait in a certain place, it was sure not to be very long before one or more jackals came peering very cautiously out of the darkness. Nothing gives a more vivid impression of the quickly changing life in the equatorial velt than the rapid decomposition of the gigantic carcase of an elephant. One day the great beast lies before us in all its huge size ; the next its bodv is chanQ^ed out of all recognition. And the hyccnas and jackals will have already made their raid in the night. Hundreds of vultures will have settled on the neighbourino^ trees, or have beoun to feast on the carcase. Round about the grass is trodden under, and all whitened with their droppings. During the following night almost the whole of the gigantic carcase will have been consumed bv the united forces of the hy:enas and jackals. It is in the early morning hours that the vultures are most busy. In a very short time nothing remains but the scabby hide and the huge skeleton. The next rainy season softens the remains of the hide, so that it can be consumed entirely by hycenas and jackals. Now only the broken bones remain on the ground. A velt conflagration, perhaps, and the gradual 464 -^ Hyaenas and Jackals influence of the tropical sun soften the bones, and they fall to bits ; the tusks alone withstand the influence of the weather for a number of years. Then new life always springs from the ruins. I have discovered birds' nests in the huge bleached skulls, or perhaps carefully built nests of mice that had found a refuge from their enemies in the tusk-sockets. Then, in the course of a few years, the skull also falls to pieces ; and thus ends the drama which has been played. . . . One ot\en encounters jackals by daylight. Their ubiquit)' makes them play a great ro/c in the legends and tales of the velt-population. In Germany the fox is the poetical personification of cunning and practical acute- ness in the fight for lite. In East Africa this ro/e is played by the " umbua witu " of the W'aswahili, the " endere " of the Masai, or " eeloande " of the Wandorobo. The opportunities I had of watching a large carcase beset b\' htmdreds of vultures, innumerable marabous, some spotted hycenas. and a number of jackals, all clamouring for the booty, were among the most interest- ing of my African experiences. Unfortunately, bad light o-enerally stood in the way of successful photographs at these times. By son^.e sort of fatality the light was generally bad when I wanted it most. I trust that others may be more lucky in this respect. I hope that the man who follows in mv footsteps will succeed far better than I have done. It is not enough to be keen and expert and well-equipped ; one must have good luck as well. 469 *r* '^^ A 111. Kl 1 ' M 1- Kl \KKD ORYX XXIV The Antelopes of East Africa LUDWIG HECK lays it down in his book Das Ticrrcich, that the word "antelope" embraces all horned animals except goats, sheep, and cattle. We may safely apply it, therefore, to most of the different kinds of ruminants met with on the East African plains. Amongst the various speci('s there are two that are notable tor their size and strength ; these are the greater kudu {Strcpsiceros sfrcpsiceros) which the Masai call " ormalu " ; and the eland ( Taui-otragus liviugstouei) called by the Masai " o'ssirwa," and by the natives of the coast " mpotu." The kudu, the males of which carry larger and stronger horns than any other African antelope, dwells in mountainous districts, and seldom makes its way into the Masai country. In Unyamwesi it is frequently to be met with, and I possess a pair of huge horns — "record" horns — which were stated to have come from the Useguha hinterland. According to Oscar Neumann the kudu was to be found among the Pare Mountains in 1893, though 470 -^ The Antelopes of East Africa not in great numbers. In 1899 I made a journey from the Paneani River to the Pare Mountain rano^e, and encamped at the foot of the middle hill in order to stalk these antelopes. I found them very scanty in numbers, and very wild upon the slopes of the hill, which was covered with the candelabra-euphorbia trees. It was only after several unsuccessful attempts that I succeeded ALL MV ATTEMPTS AT GETTING A GOOD FlU TK » ;R API I OF A LESSER KUDU WERE FRUITLESS in coming upon a small herd of four kudus, including^ one buck, which I brought down. During the da\time the kudus conceal themselves under the euphorbia-trees upon the spurs of the hill, and it was only very early in the morning that I got a sight of them grazing on the glades over which they roamed. It was in the early spring, the hottest time ot the year, and the hillsides were scorched and bare. Here 471 With Flashlio;ht and Rifle ^ and there light showers of rain had brought out patches of new grass and new leaves upon the trees, and these the kudus sought out. The blazing sunlight, the rough and stony ground, and the thorny vegetation make the stalking of the animals a very difficult job. I was sorry to find muzzle-loaders in the huts of all the natives. They had been hunting this valuable prey until it had been almost exterminated. I have never seen the greater kudu in the Masai ■country, except in the neighbourhood of the Gilei volcano. It must, however, appear sometimes in the steep declivity going down towards the Natron Lake — " the great ditch," as it is called — as the natives of Nguruman possess numerous signalling-horns made out of the horns of these animals. In the south of German East Africa also the greater kudu would seem to be numerous ; a well-known officer in our colonial police brought me to the Coast a great number of kudu-horns secured by Askaris in the Tabora neighbourhood. My experience of the greater kudu was comparatively slight, but I was glad to come across great numbers of the much weaker species called the lesser kudu [S/r(psice7'0s iniberhis). This wonderful little animal is sometimes to be seen in the Masai country, but only here and there and in small numbers. The Masai gave them the name " o'ssiram," while the Wandorobo designate them " njaigo." The beautiful white-maned, dark-skinned bucks and the hornless does, whose skins are of a still darker brown, present a wonderful picture when you come upon 472 -^ The Antelopes of East Africa ihem suddenly. The white stripes upon their bodies have the effect of making them part and parcel of their environ- ment, as is the case with zebras ; they produce the illusijn of rays of the sun falling through twigs and branches. 1 he extraordinarily large and sensitive ears ot these animals enable them to become aware of the slightest suspicious noise. There is something very dignified and imposing A IIKRD OF ELANDS in the demeanour of the bucks, especially when they raise their heads for a moment at the hunter's apijroach Formerly the lesser kudu must have been as numerous on the East Njiri swamps as in other parts of Masai-Nyika. The Masai still call them sometimes " ngare o'ssiram " (ngare-water), but their numbers were unfortunately thinned by the rinderpest. My friend Mr. Hobley found a great number of bodies ot lesser kudus 473 With Flashlight and Rifle -^ in British East Africa which had succumbed to this terrible plague in 1891, as Mr. F. G. Jackson records in the Badminton Library. Lesser Rudus are to be found in small herds, consisting of a single buck and a few females. During the day they rest, going out to graze in the morning and in the evening. Often they will allow you to come right up to them, and then, taking to Hight, make oft at a tremendous pace, and you will never see them again. 1 spent a long time trying to get a good picture of these antelopes, but the only o^ood one which I took was spoilt through a succession ot mishaps. As they generally take up their stand in the shade of the trees and bushes, and are seldom to be seen out in the sun, it is very difhcult to photograph them. On one occasion, when I came upon a fine specimen ot a lesser kudu buck raising his head proudly about eighty paces away from me, my hand shook, and the picture which I took with my telephoto-lens was spoilt. The kudu which made its appearance upon the negative presented only a very blurred resemblance to the original. I found that the horns of the old bucks were very much broken and decayed ; you would think they had been lying out for quite a long time on the desert when found. The lesser kudu very often falls a victim to leopards ; I have seen bits of them hanging upon trees. In the driest seasons kudus feed largely upon " bowstring " hemp ; I have sometimes found their stomachs completely filled with the long fibres of these plants. The largest and most powerful antelope ot all in Africa, the eland {^Tanrotragus liviugstonci). has something 474 -») The Antelopes of East Africa of the appearance of cattle in its shape and bearing. This is especially the case with the hulls oi larger size, some- times weighing as much as 2,uoo pounds, and with neck and shoulders strongly developed. I found that while the females were always striped, the old bulls some- times lost their stripes altogether ; and, while I never noticed anything exceptional about the horns of the bulls, those of the cows varied greatly in length and shape, sometimes being all twisted, sometimes quite flat. It was long believed that these elands, like the buffaloes, had been practically exterminated by the rinder- pest. I am glad to say that I found this was not the case. I found the biocrest herd of all in the Kikuvu country ; it was a herd of forty-seven head, and I saw them grazing upon the baredooking plain in company 475 With Flashlight and Rifle ^ with a lot of ostriches, but I could not (^cl near them. It was by the Natron Lake that I brought down my first eland. I killed two others near Kibvvezi, on I^)ritish territory. Since then I have come across hundreds of solitary bulls in the autumn, and herds of various sizes, made up both o( bulls and females, at all times of the year. The eland is a wondertul hill-climber. Hans Meyer and Captain Merker have seen them at a height of 16,000 or i7,oco feet on the plateau of Kilimanjaro. Professor Meyer is ot the (jpinion that the\- form a separate species of mountain ;mtelope, li\ing always on the heights and entirely avoiding the jjlains ; but until he can support this theory by specimens distinguishable from those which I have met with upon the [dain, I must disagree with him on this point. According to my observations the eland, like so many other African mammals, leads a wanderino; life, movinof about from place to place according to the season, and onl\- ascending the mountains during the dry season; they keep moving about over a tremendous expanse of country, seeking out fresh grazing-places, and are often to be met with right on the coast of the Indian Ocean, in the Umba-Xyika countrv. Bull Elands sometimes attain a weight approaching to that of a large ox, and the largest specimens are some- times as much as five feet in height. It is an exciting moment for the hunter when he comes in sight of these animals for the first time. At the approach of danger the " singoita." as the Wandorobo call them, begin by rushing together from the different parts 476 VOL. II. -^ The Antelopes of East Africa of the plain where they are grazing ; then, taking to flight, they break at first into a trot, which develops presently into a heavy but rapid gallop. Before they actually make off, however, they always indulge in a series of high jumps, to the astonishment of the observer, who would not believe them capable of such agility. I often found these elands at a great distance from water They are able to go without water for several days ; they do not feed exclusively upon grass, but also upon stalks and the small branches of trees, but their favourite grazing is upon the slopes of certain hills. Although I knew thcit elands were hill-climbers, I was quite startled the first time I saw them just as they were starting up the side of a mountain. The spot where I saw them was 6,000 or 7,000 feet high, in the thick of an impenetrable jungle, made up of jessamine, vernonia, and smilax thickets. I came upon them again, afterwards, up above the forest-belt, in the region of the shrubs. I often found them on the grass-covered open glades which the rhinoceroses have a liking for also, as well as in the dense woods high up on the different hills of the Masai country at altitudes varying from 7,000 to 8,000 feet. As at this time I rarely found them upon the plains, I have come to the conclusion, as I have said already, that they resort to the hills in the dry season. I saw some quite young ones in the month of November ; in most cases the elands did not mix with other antelopes, and the very old bulls were almost always alone. So far as I could judge, they did not seem at all nervous ; even the bulls that had been shot at did not seem to stand on their guard. 479 With Flashlig-ht and Rifle -^ Their horns were in some cases shattered in quite a remarkable way, whether through knockino- uj) ai;"ainst the trunks of the trees or through fights with other bulls, I cannot say. While the white stripes are very clearly marked in the case of the young animals, they become less and less marked with age, and are barely perceptible on the old bulls ; these bulls become darker and darker, until at last their skins get to be a sort of bluish-black. The fiesh of elands, especially of the young animal during the rainy season, is regarded as among the greatest delicacies in those regions. The skins of the bulls entail very troublesome preparation, as they are infested by a peculiar kind of tick, especially about the neck, and are very apt to go bad. Another very notable type of African antelope is to be found in the gnus, the " njumbo porrini " of the Waswahili, the " aingat " of the Masai, and the " ngaita"' of the Wandorobo. If the white-tailed gnu {Couuoc/urfes gnit), now surviving only in those regions of South Africa — the country of its origin — in which it is preserved, is more bizarre, and has its characteristics more strongly marked, than either the brindled gnu or the white-bearded gnu, the latter can be claimed at least as a very distinctive feature of the fauna of the Masai region and the salt district. Bigger and stronger than the South African gnu, its appearance is much more like that of a buffalo, especially when seen from afar. The first sight of a bull gnu, as it moves along in its trustful, untroubled way, almost always gives the European the idea that he is face 480 X H ,ts Pi 2 O *~ z O r^ o r. The Antelopes of East Africa A HERD OF GNUS WHI'l K-BKAKDEL) GNUS to face with a buffalo, unless he has come across the African buffalo in its native wilds. 483 With Mashlight and Rifle ^ At the time of my first journey the question was still undecided what kind ot gnus were to be found in the Masai country ; we know now that only the white-bearded gnu Nourishes there. It wanders about all over the place, according to the rains, is very gregarious, and is almost always to be found in company with zebras, ostriches, and other animals. For weeks together I have watched a curious trio, consisting' ot an old bull <>nu,a female gerenuk- (jazelle, and a male Thomson's Qrazelle, and succeeded once in photographing them. Gnus, like zebras, are often able to q-o for a lonor time with water containing salt, which other animals cannot drink ; in the dry season they are to be found for months together in the neighbourhood of the Natron Lakes, where they graze upon the short new grass which springs up when the lakes periodically go dry. It is not difficult to get within shooting distance of these gnus in regions where they have not yet been hunted by Europeans ; the old bulls allow the hunter to come within two hundred paces, even on quite open spaces, before they take to fiight (the herds being several hundred paces further away), so it is not hard to bring them down. Very old bulls keep apart fVom the herd, either alone or in twos and threes. These very old animals are found sometimes with the hair on their heads almost entirely white. When the gnus get wind of the hunter they begin snorting and go through extraordinary evolutions, springing about continually in all kinds of ways before taking to flight. They are apt to go through these antics 484 -^ The Antelopes of East Africa sometimes in captivity. This habit ol theirs is not to be ascribed to the irritation caused by the parasites from which, like so many other antelopes, they suffer. The specimens which I have brought to Europe have played and gambolled about in this way, and an examination of their bodies after death showed that they were completely free from these parasites. I myself have discovered a species ot parasite which seems very common on the white-bearded gnus, and which has not yet been given any scientific designation. All keepers of Zoological Gardens are familiar with the way these gnus jump about. The South xA-frican gnu is most conspicuous of all in this respect — it is a character- istic not to be found amongst other ruminating animals. J. G. Millais has given us an excellent picture of the white-tailed gnu indulging in these gambols. This leaping" habit is connected to a great extent with the fights that frequently take place between the bulls. Gnus, as was found out in the early days in Cape Colony, are to be classed among those animals which it is not easy to overtake on horseback, their powers of endurance and vitality being remarkable. In its free state the gnu always shows itself nervous in the presence of man. If it were to make use of its strenoth and its formidable horns, it would doubtless prove as dangerous, it not more dangerous, than the buffalo, especially as it has very good sight. It only shows its temper in captivity, when it is a more danc^erous animal to deal with than most other antelopes. I was fortunate enouQ^h to be able to brino: living 487 With Flashlight and Rifle ^ white-bearded gnus to Europe in the year 1900 for the first time. Through the friendly offices of Captain Merker, I succeeded in British East Africa in getting hold of two bulls and a cow aged about two years. In the company of two cows these gnus tollovved my caravan to the coast, and I succeeded in getting them safely to Germany. It was not easy to get them across the river ; they had to be driven in by force, and man(L*uvred across with the help of ropes. One of the Inills I presented to the Berlin Zoological Gardens, and it was my hope to use the other two animals for breeding purposes. They used at first to run about f]uiie freely over the paddock in Weiherhof. I had had the dagger-like horns of the bull somewhat shortened on taking him out of the cage in wdnich we had brought him over, and which I had fashioned, with the help of my taxidermist, out ot some old fencing-wood that we had bought at Pangani. A well-known horse-trainer willingly took charge of these queer strangers. Judging them naturally trom a utili- tarian point of \Iew, he e.Kclaimed : " These are good little beasts," but he very soon changed his mind as to the character ot the animals. One day he al)S()lutely retused to go within the enclosure in which his charges were kept, which was part of his duties. " I'll never call them good little beasts again," he said. " Thev are devils. The wife is good enough, but the husband is the very devil himself." I had been away for several days, but I thought now I would deal with the animals myself. Armed with a long whip I undertook to drive back the bull, which was 488 -^ The Antelopes of East Africa disposed to make a rush at me. In a moment I was hurled several feet into the air. It was only by a miracle that I escaped very serious injury, it not death. It took three or four active men, armed like m\'self with whips, to drive the beasts oft. In a week, however, the bull began to show its contempt for even the heaviest whips, and at last it had to be enclosed with its companion in a smaller piece of ground, fenced in with strong stakes. Its temper gradually got worse there, and at last it became astonishinglv wild. The bull in the Zoolocrical Gardens behaved in a very similar way. A short time afterwards all three animals died of tuberculosis. Hitherto no other white-bearded gnus have, I think, been brought to Europe, but it is to be hoped that this will be achieved later. Gnus are fonder than any other cUitelope of the open velt, upon which they are usually to be found. Before us there spreads, in the burning sunlight, the vast e.xtent of the brio-ht-hued, reddish, o-limmerinL'- laterite soil ; and hundreds of animals, thron^ino; toQ^ether, enliven its arid stretches with colours that vary in the varying lights. When the oft-seen mirage rises from the plain in the midday glow — giving the illusion of bluish water- surfaces— the gnus and zebras look as if thev were moving about in water. About midday isolated groups of gnus take their siesta under the scattered, measure thorn-bushes of Sahaciora persica and other trees ; but during the rest of the day the herds are to be seen dispersed over the plain. It is very evident that here, as everywhere, lite in the 491 With Flashlio-ht and Rifle -^ animal world has its iinderlvino- recognised law ; for the young males in this herd of gnus are plainly imited — those who are in their prime, that is — in fighting oft the old hulls and keeping them away from the herd. The old bulls remain like scouts, some hundred paces from the rest. In the famine years of 1S99-19CO I was often able to get a bird's-eye view of a kind of serious " war- game ' going on between the gnus and the natives, in the dust-swept desert between Kihmanjaro and the Meru IMountains. But no matter how the natives, making use of every inch of covert, tried to ;ipproach the herd ot gnus, the latter were always able to evade their enemies ; for they were warned by their scouts, the old bulls, who flanked the herd everywhere. In those parts of the velt through which the British Uganda railway takes the traveller to Victoria Nyanza, one often sees large herds of gnus and many other antelopes close to the permanent way. The British authorities have succeeded, by means of very strict regulations, in creating a game-preserve here, in the middle of the great trade-track. The authorities carried out this scheme with iron resolution, and the first trans- gressor of the regulations — a highly placed English official — was, according to general belief, mulcted in very heavy damages. Such a thoroughly practical mode ol procedure is worthy of all acknowledgment in a district where contra/ is possible. It differs considerably troni our " Game Protection System " — a system of regulations which may certainly be promulgated, but which cannot be carried out in the far-distant parts ot the velt^ 49- > ^- o 2 v.^. ...n:- ^^•* VOL. II. ^ The Antelopes of East Africa while in the proximity of the stations the game is extirpated. The wild-animal fauna, which I was there enabled to investio^ate lon<>- before a railroad connected the Indian Ocean with the largest of Central African lakes, has thus been for the most part kept intact, and gives a plain indication of what may be accomplished also in the \: I \'.lvl, \KK|i I iKVX proximity of the projected railways in German East Africa by means of the same judicious administration. Besides the three species already mentioned, some giants of the antelope kind inhabit many parts of German East Africa. These are the large roan and sable antelopes {Hippotragiis equiuus and Hippotragiis niger), both called by the Waswahili " palla halla." O. Neumann has pointed out a third species in the South Masai country. In the 495 With Flashli,^-ht and Rifle ^. Masai highlands proper the first kind is not to be found ; on the contrary, a strip of coastdine, stretching barely one hundred kilometres inland, along the Mombasa-Tanga- Panoani-Sadaani boundary, is the chief habitat of this splendid antelope. We find kindred types in the south of the country, in riverless districts. I have found quantities of fresh horns among the dealers in Zanzibar, all, according to their account, coming from German territory ; and, more authentically, it seems to be established by the experiences of various travellers, that the sable antelope does not seldom occur in the coast districts. In the Kilimanjaro country the " palla halla" is entirely missing. It was in the Ngare-Dobash district that I first saw the kindred roan antelope {^Hippotragits cqiiiuiis). which, later on, I had again the opportun.ity of observing not tar from the Kikumbulia provinces. I do not believe it is the case that the hartebeest was to be found in the Kilimanjaro country before the time of the rinderpest ; at any rate, it can only have occurred there in very small numbers. To obtain photographs of these glorious roan ante- lopes in their native freedom would be an enterprise worthy of any amount of endurance. Unfortunately I was not able to undertake it. But, in compensation. I cannot say how many times I came upon a type as beautiful as it is timid — the fringe- eared oryx {^0]-yx ca/Iotis), which inhabits chiefly the driest parts of the desert, as far as possible trom water. This type, numerously represented in Africa and Arabia, reaches its highest development in the gemsbok {Oryx 496 ■^ The Antelopes of East Africa oaze//a) of the Cape, an animal which, according to the latest reports from German South-West Africa, has been decimated within recent years. In this species, moreover, the splendid horns are at their finest and longest. These horns are always stronger, compacter, and shorter in the males than in the females, A cow which I killed in 1 900 had only one horn ; the other had been broken off This antelope reminded me curiously of the English heraldic aninial the unicorn. The prevailing species of orvx in German East Africa is the tutt-eared kind. This antelope is known to the Waswahili under the name of " chiroa," to the Masai as " of gamassarok," and to the Wandorobo as " songori." In the rainy season these big antelopes are extraordinarily fat. Before I hunted oryx in the Masai country, little was known of them there ; but I found them extremely numerous, living in herds of as many as sixty, but more often in smaller groups, and. as with most antelopes, the old big bucks isolated. Their coloration, which matches that of the velt most wonderfully, and their peculiar habit of living far away in solitary places, are the causes of the comparatively rare observation and destruction of them by Europeans. And even such a distinguished hunter as F-. C. Selous spent, as I am told, several fruitless weeks, some years ago, trying to bag the "chiroa" in British East Africa. These antelopes often live for weeks at a time away from any water, the night-dew and the water-retaining plants sometimes being sufficient for them. It is only at the height of the dry season that they go to the water. 499 With Flashlight and Rifle -* Extraordinarily short and thick-set in appearance, these antelopes are possessed of desperately dangerous weapons in their horns, so that they have nothing whatever to fear, even from leopards. They care as little for the mountains as the gnu does — and, indeed, are essentially animals of the plains. Of a timid disposition, they avoid inhabited regions as far as possible. I tound quite matured calves in December. Their mothers cleverly keep the rest of the herd at a distance from themselves and the youngsters, as I once was able to observe, when the handsome creatures are playing a kind of war-game with each other, in which the isolated animals parry the playful thrusts of their comrades with their pointed and formidable horns. Like the gnus, they show a marked partiality for the society of zebras. Quite often I found these oryx, especially solitary bulls, resting in the daytime on little open spaces in the midst of spreading sueda-bushes. All the oryx are likewise among the toughest of wild animals ; only a very well-placed shot will dispose of one of them. The beautiful gemsbok has never, so far as I know, reached Europe alive. Antler-bearing ruminating animals are entirely unknown in Africa, with the sole exception of two species of deer at the extreme north of the continent. Some kinds of waterbuck {Cobiis) are strikingly like the deer tribe in their habits, demeanour, and general conduct, the females especially bearing a marked resemblance to the red- deer. The male water-bucks carry a stately head-ornament 500 ■^ The Antelopes of East Africa in the shape of lyre-shaped, curving horns. As a general rule I found the " euro " of the Waswahili in the proximity of water and marshy places ; l)ut it also goes right out into the velt, and during the dry season will even with- draw into the mountain-forests, finding good cover there, and protection from flies. The scientific name of the waterbuck inhabiting I . \TERBUCK the Masai district is Cobus cllipsipryinmis ; the Masai tongue gives it as " of emaingo," and the Wandorobo as " ndoi." By the coast, waterbuck particularly delight in the proximity of the salt-water creeks. I found them extra- ordinarily numerous near marshy river-banks, where I often observed several hundred in one day. Like all antelopes, waterbuck divide themselves into herds of dift'erent sexes ; 503 With Flashlight and Rifle ^ but one sometimes finds a few isolated bucks among- the large herds of hinds. The waterbuck dearly loves an island in a river, to which he can make his way by shallow channels, untroubled by the fear ot crocodiles. The water- buck has a very peculiar smell, which is overpoweringly strong near its especial habitat, and can even be perceived at a great distance. This odou.r, which is something like that of tar, pervades the flesh of the animal, so that it is not much relished as food by Europeans. The females are particularly timid and watchful, and always give the first signal for flight. The buck or bucks which happen to be with them always, on such occasions, form the rear-guard of the fugitive troop. The vitality and tenacity of these antelopes are as remarkable as in most African horn-bearing animals. In the March of 1897 I went alone with a small caravan from Kilimanjaro to the coast, following the left bank of the Rufu. Amongst my tame cattle there was a black-and-white cow. Suddenly I noticed something black and white about two hundred paces in front of me, and supposed it was my cow which was being driven in front with the goats. But immediately afterwards I saw that it was a male ostrich, which had been taking a midday sand-bath, and was now running away from us. Scarcely an hour afterwards I saw, to my intense surprise (I was marching at this time in front of the caravan), something white glimmering again through the bushes. Amazed, I took the glasses to ascertain what it really was, when, to my delighted astonishment, the white " something " defined itself as a snow-white female water- 504 -♦> The Antelopes of East Africa buck. But, most disappointingly, I missed it, owing to the great distance and my pardonable excitement. I stayed three days at that place, vainly searching for the rare creature ; I never saw it again. About a year later it was, I was informed, again fruitlessly chased by two Europeans at the same place. Curiously enough, w^hite waterbuck were not unknown §0»m^.mB^ HARTEBEESTS SOMETIMES LOOK QUITE WHITE IX THE SUNLIGHT to my old caravan-guide. Years ago he had seen " white garne" {^Nyaina nyaupe) near the same spot, and so had the people who were then with him. The so-called hartebeest antelopes are widely represented by many different species throughout Africa. Despite the obvious family likeness always existing, they really difter a good deal in colouring, and especially in horn-formation. IVIy Wanyamwesi carriers called them " punju " ; 505 With Flashlieht and Rifle ^ the coast-folk give them the name ot^ " kongoni " ; the Masai, " logoandi." and in the older idiom, " lojukidjula." I found " roboht " to be the Wandorobo name for them. In the Masai desert region the "kongoni" of the coast-folk {Bubalis cokei) is found — a brown animal, and, like all hartebeests, remarkably top-heavy. It is a frequenter of the plains, u^here, once put to flight, it displays extraordinary staying power. If the old leader of a herd, whether a buck or a hind, be slain, it is not difficult to kill some other members of the party. This antelope, which at first sight is so quaint and ugly, can move over the uneven ground of the desert with wonderful agility. The legs, as hard as tempered steel, seem to carry the creature over the ground as if he flew on feathered pinions. In some cases the flitrht begins with a most characteristic trottincr — a kind of thnistiiio- trot, in which the fore-legs are thrown far forward. If they are put to very hurried flight, they carry their heads very low and well in front of them. The vitality and tenacity of this wild animal — which feeds exclusively on grasses — are, in my opinion, superior to that of all other African antelopes. I have often had to follow old bucks, which had four or more mortal wounds, for a very long time before I could administer the finishing shot. The coat of this antelope sometimes, especially at night, looks of a shimmering whitish colour, as is strikingly shown in one of the illustrations to this book. 506 -^ The Antelopes of East Africa In open declivities, sparsely grown over with acacia salvadora and terminalia, as well as in the open plain, we find the " kongoni " specially frequent, otten in company with ostriches, zebras, gnus, and Grant's gazelles or other wild animals. Young specimens of these ante- lopes, only a few days old. which I have come across, principally in March or April, scamper oft just as nimbly A FEMALE GERENUK GA/I.I I I as their elders. One of these week-old creatures, which 1 was trying to tire out, was the principal cause (of course, in conjunction with severe malarial fever) of a painful heart-trouble, which brought my third African tour to a premature end. To the hartebeests (as well as to many other species of antelope) are peculiar both the characteristic lachrymal glands and another kind of gland, of which 507 With Flashlight and Rifle ^ the particular character has not as yet, to my knowledge, been at all thoroughly investigated. These glands tlilfil the purpose of secreting a certain scent, which makes it easier for the animals to find one another in the wilderness. This antelope does not offer any particular temptation to the sportsman, for its flat horns form no very coveted trophy. The hartebeests can live for a long time without water, and the remark- able power that many African ruminants have of exist- ing with very little liquid tood is thus again strikingly exemplified. In the districts drained by the Victoria Nyanza I became acquainted, some years ago, with two other beautiful species of hartebeests — namely, the tiang {^Daina- /iscus ji Die 111) and Jackson's hartebeest [Bnbalis Jackson i). In 1897 I also succeeded in shooting in British East Africa a type of hartebeest (Bnbalis neunninui) which was then known by only two or three examples. At that time, alas ! I had not conceived my plan of taking photographs of African wild beasts. The beautiful and graceful impalla-antelope (the " swalla " of the caravan-carriers), the male specimens of which carry fine lyre-shaped, wide-spreading horns, is found in small groups, and also in large herds of as many as two hundred, about the bushy, thinly wooded districts, but never on the plain. The lovely wild creatures, if shot at, alter their course over and over again with great rapidity, so that they are continually meeting, passing, crossing one another — a vision of enchanting grace in the sun-drenched landscape ! Agility, grace, 508 VOL. II. lO -^ The Antelopes of East Africa steely elasticity, wonderfully vigorous beauty^ — all are here combined in one small compass. Timid and pretty, the impalla-antelopes are extremely cautious also, and the alarm-note of the bucks is heard as often by day as by night. I found young impalla- antelopes in December ; their mothers remained near the large herd. The impallas like particularly the freshly sprung young grass, and manage to discover this even from great distances. They frequently alter their habitat. During the driest part of the year they keep in the closest proximity to the streams and brooks, where they may always be found in the hollows where fresh grass is growing. The natives know this, so they burn little tracts of the velt in order that the young grass may spring up on them. The antelopes will come hurrying to these from afar, and many of the pretty creatures are shot in this way amongst the half-charred solanum- bushes upon the blackly burnt soil of the velt. In the autumn of the year 1899 I observed, in the middle of a herd of about two hundred impallas, by the Mto-Kyaki at Kilimanjaro, a perfectly white female specimen. I succeeded, to my great delight, in killing this specimen, after much stalking, rendered especially difficult by the watchfulness and numbers of the others. The following-up was made laborious by the almost impenetrable " bowstring " hemp thickets which cover the low-lying land near this stream. It was only after the third bullet that I actually got hold of the longed-for animal, and then I saw that she was pregnant with a male young ^i I With Flashlight and Rifle -♦ one, which was absolutely normal in colour. The slain antelope was no true albino, but had normal-coloured eyes. A long time ago, according to report, a native hunter succeeded in killing a similar white antelope, which was brought to Europe. A group set up for me by Robert Banzer at Oehringen (Wiirtemberg) shows this rare animal surprised by a black serval cat which 1 caught, and two other servals, and makes a most pleasing " contrast group " of my African spoils. Of the number of species of bushbuck in Western Africa which are peculiarly well adapted for life in the marshes by reason of their fine, large, extraordinarily elongated hoofs, the handsome species known as Tragel- aphus niasaicus, called by the Waswahili, " mbawara," in Kumasi. " sarga," and by the Wakamba-men, " nsoia," is the only one forthcoming in Northern East Africa. This type, although confined to watery places, as is evident from the formation of the hoofs, is by no means a marsh-animal, but lives also in high-lying moun- tain-forests, and was limited, in its origin, to very well- defined covert-giving localities. I found the bushbuck not only near the coast in jungly places, but also by rivers and on the mountams of the Masai country at two thousand feet high. This antelope, which utters a peculiar alarm-note, audible afar, often lets the hunter come quite close in the daytime, before it takes to flight, and goes in the early mornings and evenings to the clearings for food. Under every condition of its life it prefers a very close, upstanding bush as a resort. X N m p] r o ^ V. H -♦) The Antelopes of East Africa The old bucks gradually lose the beautiful brown colouring and the white markings, and grow darker and darker as they increase in age. The natives maintain that this antelope, when wounded, sometimes shows itself aggres- sive and dangerous. I found sometimes that mortally wounded bushbucks uttered a deep moan like a roebuck. Some of the tribes disdain the bushbuck as food. In March, near Arusha Chini, I noticed these antelopes with tiny calves. On account of their very dense haunts, I unfortunately failed to obtain a useful negative. An abundance of splendid antelope types entices the huntsman to delightful stalking expeditions in the Dark Continent. But unquestionably that most coveted trophy of the German sportsman, the antlers of the chief stag of the herd, is for ever denied him here ! However, he is indemnitied for this by the number of horn-bearing animals that he will find ; and even in these days there are many marsh and desert trophies worth trying for ; and there is no knowing but he may come upon some strange denizen of the primeval forest the very existence of which is unsuspected ! D^D WILD ANIMALS AT A SALT-POOL XXV Gazelles and Dwarf Antelopes TH E two species of gazelles met with most frequently in Masai-Nyika are Grant's gazelle {Gazclla granti) and Thomson's gazelle {Gazclla thomsoni), the latter of which is very similar in colouring to the former, but much smaller. The larofe and beautiful Grant's o-azelle. w^iose bucks have wonderful tails and whose females have beautiful long horns, was discovered and made known in i860 by Speke and Grant on their way to the Victoria Nyanza, then discovered by them. Thomson's gazelle (the " goilin " of the Masai) owes its discovery in 1883 to the English traveller of that name. The stately Grant's gazelle is found everywhere in Masai-land in large herds, very seldom alone. Sometimes the herds are composed of only females or only bucks, sometimes of a number of females with only one or a few- bucks. In the summer months I often found single female Grant's gazelles on large grass-pastures, and I was then ^516 -^ Gazelles and Dwarf Antelopes sometimes able to licrht on their calves, which were hidden not far off. When these are sufficiently grown, the mother takes them with her to the herd. These gazelles shun the forest, but are found in the lighter brush-woods. They do not eat grass exclusively, but also leaves and some kinds of tree-fruits, especially the fruit of a large solanumart. The horns of the bucks very often curve outwards in GRANT S GAZELLE^ a remarkable way, but sometimes they are set quite close too-ether. I found both kinds in the one district, and have made a large collection of the two. This species of antelope has one peculiarity — the way it doubles like the hare when chased. One notices this especially with regard to the females, which always take the lead in the flight, while the buck or bucks of the herd keep 517 With Flashlight and Ritie -»i to the rear. The bucks have a particularly solemn appearance as they slowly swerve round to eye one, holding" their necks very stiffly under the great weight of their horns. The smaller females, however, are the embodiment of graceful motion itself, and know well how to circumvent the stratagems of the hunter. During the spring months Grant's gazelle is much harassed by a species of parasite discovered by myself and also by a new species of gadfly which I found on it. The larva; of the first-mentioned parasite pierce through the skin of the animals, causing much pain ; the effect is very bad on the venison. This gazelle is not dependent on water, and is often found far out on the velt a good distance from the watering-places. I once came very near being done for by a female Grant's gazelle, furnished with a pair of stately horns with very sharp points. My friend Alfred Kaiser had taken a walk with me in the direction of the Meru Mountains on the occasion of my first visit to East Africa. We were resting close by a pittall made by the natives, in which a rhinoceros had been captured the night before, when we suddenly noticed a solitary Grant's gazelle on a hill some distance oft. Armed with my friend's rifle, with which I was unfamiliar, I got nearer to the gazelle, and took aim when about three hundred paces off using a large-bore cartridge. The wounded gazelle immediately came running down the hill and made for me, bleating loudly. Her young was evidently hidden in the grass not far from where I stood. At first I could not believe my eyes ; but at the last moment I 518 -^ Gazelles and Dwarf Antelopes realised the seriousness of my situation, and managed to fire a second shot just in time, which made the animal turn a somersault but a few paces off Had I not succeeded in this, it would undoubtedly have pierced me with its horns. The smaller Thomson's gazelles dwell out upon the prairies. They seem to be found in the Masai country GRANT S GAZELLES exclusively. They are not only much smaller than the Grant's Q^azelles, but also less beautiful, and far inferior in every way. Thomson's gazelle has, I might say, something of the sheep about it. Those which have not previously been shot at allow you to get within about one hundred and twenty paces of them, and only then move slowly away. They show their stupidity in their whole bearing. They 5^9 With Flashlight and Rifle ^ feed exclusively on grass. Unlike the 'Gi"^nt's bucks, the bucks of Thomson's gazelle are sometimes found alone. They have, as a rule, very strong and long antlers, the points of which are sometimes very close together, and never curved far apart, as is the case with many Grant's o-azelles. It is very noticeable that the female Thomson's gazelles — almost without exception — have crooked and ill-formed horns. One frequently comes across striking malformations. I have never found deformities among the horns of bucks. When these gazelles are taking to flight they carry themselves in a very stift^ and straight manner. When in full flight, however, like the harte- beests. they keep the head low down, so that the whole body of the animal seems flat and outstretched. When trotting they hold their heads somewhat higher, this being true especially of the bucks. One often sees Thomson's gazelles feeding contentedly among the herds of cows, and still more among the herds of goats belonging to the Masai. All kinds of game are confiding with the Masai people, who never consume the flesh of wild animals. Sometimes I found bucks fighting so intently that I could almost touch them with my hands. These little gazelles have a peculiar characteristic that I have never seen mentioned by other authors. Wherever and when- ever one may happen to sight them, they whisk their tails violently backwards and forwards, especially when they become suspicious of any one approaching them, or when they take to flight They can always be recognised by this whisking of the tail. ,20 -») Gazelles and Dwarf Antelopes Now and again one finds them living amicably and sociably with other kinds of animals. For days I have observed a single buck in company with a female gerenuk gazelle and an old bull. 1 have never noticed these dwarf gazelles on the lett bank of the Pangani River, but have frequently found them elsewhere. Near Nakuro and Elmenteita Lake, in the British district, I have seen them in thousands. In August I found newly born calves, and at the same time very small embryos. The dwarf gazelles are a great ornament to the Salt and Natron districts in the far Nyika. It is to be hoped that the velt will long afford a refuge both to them and to the beautitul Grant's gazelle. There are two other similar kinds of gazelle found in Africa, which are amone the most remarkable of the species to be seen in these desert places. Imagine an extremely slender and graceful miniature horned giraffe, coloured a uniform brown, given to raising itself on its hind-legs like a goat, so as to eat the leaves of bushes and trees. The males are adorned with peculiarly shaped horns ; the females are without. One kind, Clarke's gazelle [Aiuniordorcas clarkei). has so far only been found in quite confined portions of Somaliland. The other species, which is very similar, the gerenuk gazelle {Lithocranius walleri,), has a far more extensive range, and, according to my own observations, is to be found far away in the velt of German East Africa. This gazelle, known by the Waswahili under the name of njoggo-nyogga, by the Masai as nanjab, and the Wando- robo as mode, was first definitely located by me in - O "> With Mashlio-ht and Rifle ^ German East Africa in the year 1896. Both Count Teleki and Hohnel speak in their works of a loncj^-necked gazelle which they had killed ' near the Pangani, whilst on their wonderful journey of discovery to the Rudolf and Stephanie lakes ; but they give no other particulars. I am ot opinion that they had found a gerenuk gazelle, a species unknown to them. It was in the neighbourhood of the Buiko, at the foot of the South Pare Mountains, at sunset, that I came suddenly upon one of these beautiful gazelles just as it was in the act of raising itself on its hind-legs to pluck the scanty leaves of a mimosa, for it was during the dry season. For a moment I imagined it to be a giraffe ! However, I immediately saw my error. I knew the appearance of the gerenuk gazelle from pictures, and I joyfully thought to myself that I had here found a species ot gazelle quite unsuspected in these parts. Great was my desire to get hold of the animal ; but I failed, because ot the uncertain evening lioht. I tired twice, but missed each time. Next morning, however, another European succeeded in killing a female of this species. Thus to my great joy my observations were contirmed, for great doubt had been expressed in the camp the evening before as to their accuracy. This was a most striking illustration of our superticial knowledge about East African animals. Soon I was able to ascertain that the gerenuk gazelle is widely distributed and is frequently to be met with, but that it is game only for the skiltul hunter. They lie in the midst ot the thickest thorn-wildernesses far tVom the water. They can exist in waterless places, nourishing themselves 524 VOL. II. II -»i Gazelles and Dwarf Antelopes on twigs and leaves. These gerenuk gazelles are well off in the hungriest deserts in the midst of a vegetation consisting of Enphorbia, Ctssiis qiwidi^angularis, Sanseviera cyliudrica, Sanseviera volksenii, and shrub-acacias. I have found no confirmation of Hunter's theory that they live chiefiy on dried grass in the neighbourhood of the rain- stream beds. Although these gazelles are very widely dis- MUSK-ANTELOPES tributed, they are confined to a quite distinct type of the velt flora, which is easier learnt by experience than de- scribed. They are found not infrequently on the broad acacia-covered plains, and also in hilly districts ; but they shun luxuriant vegetation as well as forests. Towards early morning and at evening time they are most lively. The rest of the day is spent in the shade of the acacia-bushes. At the approach of danger they stand erect, as though 527 With Flashlight and Ritid -^ moulded in l^ronze, with their abnormally long necks stretched out stiff and straight. If the gazelle is assured ot the direction whence the approaching enemy comes, it makes for the nearest cover, its neck still outstretched right in front of it, and moving with noiseless tread like a shadow. The sportsman is apt to be quite stupefied by their sudden disappearance. This peculiarity of theirs, and their colouring, which blends so well with their surroundings, together with their alertness and caution, explain why they have eluded so manv earlv travellers. In the hot season I used to like to hunt them at noontide. To follow the chase of these animals a hunter must not mind the fearful heat. How numerous they are in the north of German East Africa may be gathered from the fact that within a few hours I once shot five bucks and saw (but did not shoot) about fourteen females near the Kitumbin volcanoes ! This kind ot hunting is very fatiguing. It is very tiring to get across the thorny places as quietly as possible, and yet not too slowly, so that the game may not take flight before one is near enough to take good aim. It the search is too long drawn out. they are often up and away before the hunter can sight them. It is a charming sight to see these gazelles, singly or in small herds of about eiorht, as thev seek their food towards eventide, raising themselves every now and again on their hind-legs. This, however, is not often possible ; and when it is so, it is generally in the dry season, when these gazelles have to be pretty 528 -»^ Gazelles and Dwarf Antelopes quick in finding sufficient fresh vegetation to satisfy their appetites. So far it has been found impossible to keep this animal in captivity, even in Africa, much less to convey it as far as Europe. Like the wonderful Kilimanjaro white- tailed guereza (Colobiis caitdaius), this gazelle seems to be unable to thrive except in surroundings for which no kind of efficient substitute can be devised. Menges. a great expert in this kind of thing, tried to preserve it in Somaliland, but in vain. Personally, I attribute the faikire of all attempts at keeping gerenuk gazelles in captivity above all things to unsatisfied longings for com- panionship. It would be well first of all to provide friends for these prisoners in the shape of goats. Among antelopes similar in size to the gerenuk gazelles we find the reedbuck, which are widely distributed. Reedbuck have two very different haunts — the marshy plains and the hills, and they vary accordingly ; but a bald spot and a gland imder the ear are common to all types. A very beautiful inhabitant of the hilly districts is the Masai mountain-reedbuck {Cervicapra chanleri), which is absolutely different, both as regards appearance and habits, from the reedbuck found lower down. About the time of my first visit to Africa the American traveller Chanler found a long-haired grey reedbuck in British East Africa whose habitat was on the mountains. The first to find and bring home this beautiful species from German East Africa was myself. It is a near relative of the South African red reedbuck iyCei'vicapra 529 With Flashlight and Rifle ^ fulvoriifula), and is one of the most curious objects to be found in our museums. I have found this reedbuck exclusively in hilly districts. I must say, indeed, that the name is hardly suitable, for it does not live amoni^' the reeds, Ijut partly in the midst of fairly high shrubs and bushes, and partly on the knolls and moLmds in the mountainous districts. It abounds in small herds of about five on the western slopes of the Kilinianjaro, and on all the hills of the Masai district. I am surprised that earlier observers have not noticed them. Chanler's reedbuck is not tied to the water, and is found on dry and grassy heights. In such a neighbourhood, not far from Lake Rudolf, it was later found and killed by Lord Delamere. In a great part of Africa we find one reedbuck that lives on the plains and another on the hills. Chanler's reedbuck is the kind that lives on the hills. This species is distinguished by a peculiarly long tail ot the pretty isabelline-grey colour, white underneath. Although this animal may appear variously coloured according to the light, it is always to be recognised by the long and conspicuous tail. The hill reedbuck, with the bushbuck ( Tragelaphus viasaicus) and the klipspringer {Orcotragus schilliiigsi), together form attractive objects amid the hills and heights, and all three furnish good material for the hunter and observer who is equal to making expeditions under an equatorial sun. Towards the evening one can, it cautious, come across little parties of these reedbuck as they graze ; but during the daytime they are as 530 -^ Gazelles and Dwarf Antelopes prone to take flight as the ordinary reedbuck. The horns of these antelopes are never so strongly dev^eloped as those of the dwellers in the reedy plains and marshes, their colouring affording them ample protection in its rocky and stony haunts. A near relative is Ward's reedbuck [Cervicapi'a ivai'di), found in Masai-land, as well as in many other IT WAS AT A HEIGHT OF ABOUT I0,000 FEET ON THE VOLCANIC MOUNTAIN GILEl. IN THE MIDST OF A WOOD, THAT I GOT THIS PHOTOGRAPH OF THE MOUNTAIX-REEDBUCK parts of Africa. It is very much smaller than the South African reedbuck, and its finest horns cannot be com- pared with those of its southern cousin. One can find it every morning and evening, alone or in small herds, on the grassy expanses near the water, where it also takes its customary rest during the remainder of the day. This reedbuck allows one to approach very near, and r T ^ J Jv3 AVith Flashlight and Rifle ^ then it suddenly takes to Hight in quick leaps and bounds. More than once has it startled me, making me think some dangerous wild animal was upon me. It is always difficult to kill it in the act of flight, for it doubles like a hare, and in the high grass it is scarcely possible to hit it with a bullet. A fowling-piece will easily bring it down, but it must be ready cocked to hand. In the Pangani Valley I once spent a whole day trying to capture a fine male reedbuck before I succeeded in hitting it in full flight. I particularly wanted this specimen to complete a reedbuck group in the same season's coat for a museum. The real abode of the reedbuck is to be found where burning heat lies heavily on the reed morasses, which, broken only by a tew sedges, stretch before one on the river-banks. In August I tound the females were pregnant, but the bucks were extraordinaril\- shy, and only after considerable difficulty was I able to kill a fine specimen. On the whole the chase is best pursued during the morning and evening hours. One has to remember the fact that these reedbuck warn one another of the approach of the loe by a piping tone. This warning is also recognised by the waterbuck ; the birds also pay attention to it. When this cry resounds through the sedge-reeds, frightened marsh-birds and herons fly up suddenly into the air. Wounded reedbuck usually seek out very thick sedge- beds, and are thus verv hard to find. The reedbuck seems to have a long future before it, in spite of the inroads of civilisation, because of its peculiar 534 -») Gazelles and D\\arf Antelopes haunts and habits. It loves to find a refuge in thick covert, and thus has a better chance than the animals which live out on the steppes. Unfortunately that excellent work Great and Small Game of Africa informs us that the once common reed- buck is becoming very rare in Natal, Zululand, Bechuana- land, the Transvaal, and Swaziland. Among the mountains of the Nyika lives a wonderful A HERD OF FEMALE GRANT S GAZELLES miniature antelope, the klipspringer, of which I discovered a new species {Orcotragits schilliugsi}) This graceful creature, covered with thick grey-greenish hair, and adorned with a white beard, springs from crag to crag like a feather ball, uttering a shrill cry of warning. So far as I could ascertain, the klipspringer is called " n'gossoiru " by the Masai. I found this beautiful 535 With Flashlight and Rifle -•^ mountain antelope everywhere — in the riverless districts of the mountain slopes, as well as on the stony crags of the Masai highlands. The low woods and lighter forests are alive with attractive dwarf antelopes : Harvey's duiker {Ccphalolophus harz'eyi), the eyed duiker {Syhicapra ocii/an's), the dik-dik antelope {^Madoqua kir/ci), the musk-antelope {^Kcsotragus moscJiatns), and other kinds of Httle dwarf antelopes, all of which I have often killed and collected for our museums. But it was nearly always impossible to photograph them, as the proper light was wantiwg in their special haunts. 536 RAPHIA AND OTHER PALMS, TAMARINDS, AND BAOBABS GREW BV THE RIVER-SIDE. IN THE BACKGROUND OF THIS VIEW MAY BE SEEN A SPUR OF THE INNSHORN GARE MOUNTAINS XXVI Apes and Monkeys '^r^WO anthropoid apes, the gorilla and the chimpanzee, L formerly known only on the West Coast of Africa, have recently been found also on the western boundaries of the German East African forests. Pere Guilleme, who lived for many years on Lake Tanganyika, and who, after seeing all his missionary comrades succumb to the deadly climate, started out again with about twenty "White Fathers," told me, as long ago as 1S99, that the chimpanzee known as " soko " was to be found to the west of Tanganyika on the forest-covered Mzana Mountains at a height of about 6,000 feet. These caricatures of humanity were met with later on the boundaries of German East Africa, and the German East African gorilla {Gorilla beringei) has lately been found by Captain von Beringe on Lake Kivn, and 537 With Flashlight and Rifle ^ has been called after its discoverer by Prof. Matschie. Prof, von Hansemann assures me that this species differs in the shape of its skull from the gorillas of the East African coastdands hitherto known. Visitors to the German Horn and Antler Exhibition in 1900 will remeniber the colossal gorilla exhibited there, which had been killed in a West African forest. Very probably it did not show the full size attained by these gigantic man-apes, the terror of the primeval forests. In early works on Africa we are furnished with many fantastic and highly coloured tales about these apes. It is to a German — von Koppenfels — that we owe much of our knowledge about them, and we should perhaps have been able to learn much more about their habits and ways if he had not died from a wound received from a buffalo. I look forward eagerly to deriving some trust- worthy information concerning them from the traveller Zenker. Chimpanzees and gorillas are not to be found in the greater part of German East Africa, nor in the Masai highlands which I traversed. These regions harbour, however, several species of a very interesting, peculiarly shaped ape, very shy and retiring, which lives on high trees in the forests and feeds almost entirely on leaves. These are the guerezas {Colohus) — silky haired, with bushy tails, coloured black and white, and with serious, bearded faces; the finest species of them, the " mbega " of the natives {Colodus caudafus), is to be found in the forests of Kilimanjaro and the Meru Mountains. The mbegas are thumbless, and have a curiously hasty and 538 C. G. Schillings, phot. MY "MBEGA" monkey OR WHITE-TAILED GUEREZA, WHICH LIVED FOR TWO YEARS IN THE BERLIN ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS, AND WAS THE ONLY SPECIMEN OF HIS. SPECIES EVER SEEN THERE -»5 Apes and Monkeys impetuous way of tearing the leaves from the branches and putting them in their mouths. Frequent eructa- tions interrupt their meal, which they make only in the morning and in the evening. Captive specimens never try to bite any one until they have gripped him with their hands and drawn him close to their mouth. These melancholy animals, so wonderfully adapted to their haunts, live high up in the gigantic forest trees, sometimes in large, sometimes in small groups, jumping from bough to bough and tree-top to tree-top. 'Jdieir bushy white tails hang low, and, as they jump, the hair of their bodies spreads out, giving them quite a unique appearance, like lichen suddenly come to life. The mbega hardly ever comes down to the ground. It finds enough water to drink in the cavities of the old trees, and, on account of its long legs, it can only move forward on the ground with great difficulty, looking very helpless. On occasions I found the mbega very inquisi- tive, and not particularly timid. Unfortunately, like so many other animals, these monkeys have much to fear from the progress of civilisation, for their fur is greatly coveted. Already their numbers have been much thinned by fire- arms and by the poisoned arrows of the natives. This is the more to be lamented as, unlike baboons and meer- kats, the mbega is not hurtful. The guereza has something in common with those savage races that melt away as civilisation advances, and which prefer to go under rather than make any concessions. A free and independent dweller of the forests, finding VOL. II. 541 12 With Flashlight and Ritic ^ food in plenty in the foliage of the tree where it lives, this animal, like so many others — like the elk of the northern forests, for example — has become settled in its habits, and won't alter them the least little bit. Its huge stomach, which never seems to leave off digesting, requires an incredible quantity of aromatic leaves of various kinds, for only now and again does the mbega consume fruits. It seems to dislike any other form of nourish- ment, although it may sometimes seek birds' eggs or young birds. Towards morning, and even during the day, these monkeys indulge in a peculiar kind of chorus, which is hard to describe — a kind of humming and buzzing that the uninitiated would never suppose came from an monkey. Early in the morning, when a thick mist lies on the forests and a saturating dew hangs in heavy drops on leaves and branches, and everywhere silence still prevails, this chorus of the monkeys, beginning softly, swells into a mighty sound, then dies away, only to begin afresh. This enables the hunter to find the " ob goroi " of the Masai very easily. He has but to look up to the great summits of the /ujiipei^us procera and other forest giants to see the quaint minstrels as, with tremendous leaps, they take to flight. Besides this chanting, the mbega frequently gives out a short grunting noise. In the autumn of 1899 1 was first able to ascertain that the guereza monkeys are snow-white when born, and that their colouring comes gradually afterwards. I discovered, too, that they were much tortured by a kind of tick {Ixodes schillingsi) in some forests. These 542 -♦) Apes and Monkeys ticks fasten exclusively on to the eyelids, and cause bad festering sores. Many years ago I found a large number of mbegas in the Kahe and Aruscha-Chini oases, which are connected with the Kilimanjaro highlands by permanent water- courses and high trees. But, as Prof Hans Meyer remarked, they are distinguished from the guerezas of the mountains by their shorter hair. I was informed that these monkeys were not hunted by the natives, as they were considered sacred. But in 1896 the hunting Askaris of the Moshi station were not long able to withhold their rifles from this harmless animal. They went out on monkey-hunting expeditions lasting for several days. Now the animal is a rarity — if any are to be found at all. In 1900 I shot three mbegas ot the Kahe oasis, taking three days to do it, for the Berlin Museum. Not only here, but everywhere on the mountains a rigorous pursuit haL. lately been organised. I frequently found traders, Greeks as well as Indians, with manv hundred of mbeoa-skins ready to be sent to Europe. A missionary amused him- self in his spare time by bringing down good specimens ot this monkey, worth seven shillings apiece. He told me he managed to kill as many as eighty in one month ! A monkey very similar to the white-tailed guereza is found in West Africa, which some years ago was much in vogue, and of which, according to official reports, several hundred thousands were exported. It will not be long before the supplies in the isolated and not over-extensive forests of Kilimanjaro and the Meru Mountains are 543 With Flashlight dwd Rihc ^ exhausted in the same way. A tax has lately been levied on every monkey killed. This is \'ery commendable, but who will enforce the regulation ? During my expeditions through the mountain-forests, I often found poisoned arrows as thin as knitting-needles. They had been used by the natives in hunting the mbega, and had been lost. It was merely for the monetary value of these monkeys that the natives killed them. Before the European invasion the natives only killed the mbega to use its fur as a foot-ornam_ent for the Masai Ol Morani. In former years people often made attempts to secure the young of these beautiful monkeys and to convey them to Europe. However, all these efforts were in vain — the sensitive character of this solitary monkey made them impossible. The young did not grow to their proper size, and if they got as far as the sea, or at best to the European coast, it was but to die. For these reasons I determined to procure an old animal. I succeeded, none too easilv, in oetting hold of an old male by means of a shot which grazed its head ; but now my troubles began in earnest. The monkey resolutely refused any kind of food. The care of the wound in its head was by no means pleasant. The animal kept trying to get its arms round the attendant, grunting angrily and biting fiercely at him the while. Later the doctor of the station helped me to dress this wound, and at lenofth it healed. Meanwhile I had managed to get the animal some fagara leaves and tendrils which I knew were its chief food. Whenever these leaves were at all withered, the 544 -♦5 Apes and Monkeys mbega rejected them vehemently, and I had to get fresh ones — -often no easy task. It always tried to tear off the leaves of the branch held out to it, as it was wont to do during its days of liberty, being much handicapped in this by the want of a thumb. I accustomed it gradually to bananas. The strongest and most herculean nigger of my assembled caravan was appointed keeper of the animal during the march. This man was a member of the Wadigo tribe. In his youth he had been taken to the velt by the Masai, before the days of the rinderpest, and when they made their cattle-stealing expeditions as far as Tano;a on the sea-coast. He had learnt thus how^ to tend cattle and animals of all kinds. It was a comical sight to see this black, six teet high, with his good-natured child's face, holding up a primitive sunshade over the mbega, carefully wrapped up, and bound to him by a leathern thong. The mbega was always trying to bite the black, and one could not help laughing at the sight of their struggles. It was always amidst the amicable jeers of the other carriers that peace would be restored and that " Feradji Bili " would at length be able to go on his way with his ward. But there were continualU" fresh difficulties to be overcome. On the march to the coast it was with the greatest trouble that we procured creeping plants in sufficient quantity to nourish the monkey, for the fagara did not grow here. Then, too, the mbega developed symptoms of fever, which I sought to ward oft' by quinine. But at last it arrived at the coast, and was transported to Europe, where it has now lived for two years, in the Berlin Zoological 547 With Flashlight and Rifle ^ Gardens, under the care of my friend Dr. Heck. It is the only living specimen which has so far been brought to Europe. Later Captain Merker managed to procure three full- grown specimens. These I tried to bring to Europe on my fourth journey home, but failed, in spite of every effort, chiefly because the monkeys, although long accus- tomed to one another, suddenly began fighting in the narrow hold, and seriously hurt themselves. Thus only one of them, a female, reached the Berlin Gardens, and she died three days later. Mbegas in captivity refuse all food offered them and pine for their beloved mountain-forests. This is unlike the habits of the baboon and other monkeys, and also unlike the anthropoid apes, which become extraordinarily attached to their keepers. The behaviour of the mbega has nothing monkey-like or comical about it, but is rather always earnest, steady, and reserved. To me it always seems a kind of reflection of its sombre haunts. It is extraordinary how differently baboons behave, whether in freedom or in captivity ! Baboons do not live, as many people seem to believe, in the branches of the trees in tropical lands. They are dwellers either on the plains, which they explore thoroughly, or on the mountains. A confirmed plains-dweller is the yellow baboon, scien- tifically known as Papio ibeanus, but called " njani " by the inhabitants of the coast, " ol'dolal," by the Masai, and " kireije " by the Wandorobo. This monkey, which lives in large herds united by the strongest social ties, 548 -»5 Apes and Monkeys sleeps on a tree, but during the day it traverses the thickets and river-side woods in search ot food. This consists laro-elv of grasses, and also of tree-fruits, leaves, grass-seeds, all sorts of insects, besides young birds and any eggs it may happen to come across. I have never been able to confirm the statement that baboons hunt full-grown dwarf antelopes, but I do not doubt that there are times when they kill quite young or newly born animals of this kind and devour them. It is very interesting to note the way in which the biggest baboons in a herd keep watch against the onslaughts of leopards, their greatest enemy, and other beasts of prey. Three or r'bur experienced leaders take their stand on a fallen tree-trunk some few feet above the ground, and act as sentries. The herd feels perfectly safe under their guardianship. The enormous old males, whose teeth are longer and stronger than those of the leopard, as well as the smaller females with their young of various sizes, all 549 With riashlii^ht and Rifle -^ go carelessly into the woods, plucking the grasses, picking Lip stones, chasing locusts or other insects, or indulging in various antics. I have sometimes noticed in the midst of these herds, or only a tew teet away, impalla antelopes, dwarf ante- lopes, and even waterbuck and ostriches. Especially during the noontide hours are these animals thus accus- tomed to disport themselves. Suddenly the scene changes. One of the animals has either seen me or got wind ot me. A honey- guide flutters around me suddenly with a cry ; another bird betrays my position through its croaking ; and, like lightning, the whole concourse of animals flee in all directions amidst clouds of dust. The troop of monkeys has been given the alarm b)' a kind of squeak of warning. Those keeping watch on the tree-trunk come down, and the females and younger ones begin to take flight. At length, with flowing manes and tails erect, the stout old valiant fathers of families gallop oft quickly, but keeping on the alert the whole time. This alertness during flight, and without stopping at all, is a characteristic peculiar to baboons and spotted hycenas. I have never noticed it in any other animal. To me it seems a fact, about which there can be no doubt, that baboons have a language of their own, and that in danorer the old animals oive their commands bv means of some simple method of speech. During flight it is easy to notice the workings of their social organisation. The older monkeys dragoon the younger and more inex- perienced into batches, regardless of thumps and cufis, 550 0 ;> ^ ■"'■-'oA'-l, ^ o -■ s! . , ?— Ml ^^jw' ' ' " .f ^ '** 1 ■s^HVs^Hk' * ,' ' ' ~ a^ ^^^^^^■•^^Btej^^ '■ ^"^^^^^K- w '''5 J91I ^^^^^^^^^H -^F ^^^^^HH^^BT ^^fl^^^^^^lB^ > -•" ' 91 H^^^^H m qH^^HL. Jl^^^^^Hp § ^ ,M P^^^^^Wv. T IP^'SflBn* ftif- . » »* , %m-m<- -' ggUPpwiff*^" o 5 l^ilS z r- '( „.■ .....-,',.., .,,.,,,,>,- ^.,.- ^ ^ , . HMBr^HliiWBHr^lBfflMIIB'IMilMIt" 32 ^ ' '~ * < :' ' H^^^^^^H o , / ■ /.' •: * ^^^^^^^ra X • J.;;. ^. .y ... ^, ,^ . • ' 1 ■I. ^^^^^^^Hb^'7 Pfn^^^^^^Hn^^P - '^'^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H^^^B > 'jHH' '' jB^H^^^V' ^ i. i^x ■ ^i^B S^^^^^^^^ ' « ■ •X ■■^ ^ & ,^MHi' 'litll'; "' ^ J w if^^^^^^H^^^' ^ a^^^^Lr z ■ ■, /. r . #-w [ — ^iiPL ,\V^.' 1 ^ t # X "^.'^ ' f , . 1 •< ■ A , ■ -J f * ■ -•; ^« 1 ' •^ ■ '• '"7 %^^^^^hK'* '» • ^' w .■.-.■■^ - '^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ . ' f '' > r^ ..' ■ \ r ' ' \ Z ■ ' ■ \ ^ '4l \ 1 'jjHlH^K '' ^ > 1 ^^^/ i^^^^^^^^K ^ « H V ' -^^^^^^^F^ 1 !j ^" < ^mssML \ ■ffil'l.*' **' / i * " * ■• ■ 4 # B fmBmmA JHIw * / ■ • ^ " > ■^H«< ■BlJj >-. I . . * •< ^^^^^^Ib E^^^^^L£r ' ^ R i^l^^^^^^^^^^l |^^H> ^ i > ^^^^^^^^^^1 ^^H^^^^v M , , A ^ . * ^^^^^^^^^^H ^ "a^^^^^l ^^^Ea^ ^' ^ \% ^ Z "' ' 'B H|^y|p^. > ^^^HHH| - " 'v^^^^^l B^^tffi^T'. ■^^■' ■ i > 'i^^^^^^^^^l o I ■ 1 \-- ■ - 1* t- \ 1 ti; 4 ■ vlfc -^ Apes and Monkeys and help them on their way. Presently we see some of them clamberino- u}) trees to get a better view of their foe, and then again a great cloud of dust informs us that all have sought safety in further flight. The eyesight of the baboon must be extraordinarily keen — much more so than that of the natives. The baboon which I kept prisoner in my camp recognised me at an incredible distance when I was returning from my expeditions. It is most interesting to watch the troops of baboons as they go to drink of an afternoon between four and five o'clock, and to note how cautiously they quench their thirst. Their great object is to avoid the crocodile. Baboons never drink without having the water watched and guarded by some experienced old members of their troop, either from a tree or from the shore. The moment a crocodile is sighted the alarm is given. Like lightning the whole troop tear uj) into the trees for safety, and give vent to their anger by a chorus ot grunts and squeaks. From their high watch-towers the experienced old baboons keep an eye on every movement of the crocodile, and it is only after the most cautious survey that they at length decide once more to approach the water to drink, or make for some shallower spot, where the crocodile could not so easily get at them. In the riverless regions of the Masai country one comes across quite another kind of baboon, which is of a dark green colour {Papio neiimaiiui). It was discovered by Oscar Neumann in the beginning of the year 1890. These monkeys live in large herds on the mountain slopes. 553 With Flashlight aiul Rifle -* They seem to prefer sleeping on steep and inaccessible rocky spots, so as to keep out of the way of the leopard. Shivering with cold in the early mornings, they huddle together on the rocks, and it is n.ot until the sun's rays have had plenty of time to warm them that they are awakened to new vivacity, for baboons are lovers of sun and light. With a good glass one can watch their goings-on for hours together. It seems, then, as if the hillsides were peopled by a primitive race of men. The old leaders of the troop survey one critically from their craggy watch-towers, whilst the females and young retire into the background in great crowds. The killing of monkeys or apes is not one of the pleasures of tropical hunting. Their death is so human that the hunter can only make up his mind to pull the trigofer on the creatures in the interest of zoolooy. Death softens the original savage expression on the countenance of dying baboons, and you see a look ot intense agony in the fixed stare of their eyes. I remember especially a most painful moment I ex- perienced after I had shot a powerful old baboon and followed him into a rocky cavern, where I found him dying, with his hands pressed to the death-wound. On another occasion I reached a mountain stream, after a twelve-hours' march at the head oi my caravan, when we were all nearly dead with thirst. There were no signs of human beings about the surrounding craggy world of rocks, when suddenly one of my people called out in a tone of fear, " Mtua Bvvana," "A man, master!" as a human-looking face appeared, looking trom behind a 554 -♦) Apes and Monkeys boulder about a hundred yards away in the grey evening light. But it was only a very old baboon, which was survey- ing us, and which had all the appearance of a man, both to the beaters and myself. It was covering the retreat of the herd. L'nlike meerkats, of which there are three kinds in the Masai lands, and, unlike other kinds of monkevs, CAPTURIiNG A GALAGO baboons are notable for their sociability. In captivity they become most attached to their masters, or to other people they come in contact with ; but they divine at once where there is no sympathy, and hate accordingly. A specimen I possessed was extremely fond of me, but refused all the advances of an expert animal-tamer, who had subjugated numerous other animals to his will. For many years, in Moshi, another baboon was kept 555 With Flashlight and Rifle -* prisoner, chained before the gates of the fort. A most intimate friendship had sprung up between this great, danoerous-lookinof baboon and a little native child about eighteen months old. From some hut in the vicinity the little one crawled on all-tours to the monkey, and played fearlessly with his huge triend tor nian\" hours every day in a very droll and amusing fashion. On Christmas Eve in 1899, when we were all within the walls of the fort expecting an attack by the natives, all the inhabitants of the station suddenly poured in like a ilock of sheep about nine o'clock. The baboon, stricken with fear, managed somehow to break loose, and joined the rush into the tort. 556 XXVII Stalking Expeditions in the Nyika IHA\'E had many hundred fruitful stalkin;^- expeditions in the Masai- Nyika, but also many hundred fruitless ones. I now request the reader to follow me in spirit on some such expeditions, which I will select in such a way as to give as exact as possible a picture of my experiences. With the break of day I leave the camp, accompanied by about thirty carriers. Each man brings with him a calabash of water, and no more. Noiselessly, in a row, they follow me and the Wandorobo guides. Immediately behind me come the bearers of my photographic apparatus, and my rifle-carriers. All the men are accustomed to fall at once to the ground, upon a gesture from me, making themselves, as nearly as may be, invisible. This, of course, demands much patient practice. On departure from the camp it is impossible to tell whether it may not be necessary to spend the night far VOL. II. 557 13 With 1-lashlight and Rilie -^ off somewhere on the velt ; matches are therefore brought along in a small pouch. If, by any chance, the matches (called by the bearers "Kiberiti") are not forthcoming, we are simply obliged to let the Masai and the Wandorobo men generate fire in their own primitive fashion. A wooden stave is twirled between both hands until its tip takes fire through friction with a second stick which is being violently brandished round and round ; on being brought into contact with some light inflammable dry grass or leaves, it sends up immediately a glowing blaze. A bearer carries my coat ; others have charge of some small axes and ropes. I never wear a coat during the day ; an earth-coloured, raw silk shirt, wide open and with the sleeves rolled up. suits me best under the Equator. Very broad, strong. hea\_\', shcU-|)-nailed strap-shoes ot the best workmanship ; two pairs ot stockings, one drawn o\ er the other so as to keep ofi the heat as much as possible ; soft leather gaiters, earth-coloured trousers, and a very broad-brimmed and well-ventilated hat of double telt, complete mv extremelv simple outfit. I have very rarely worn a tropical helmet in the interior. The scorching glare of the sun soon fades all gar- ments to the sanie hue. Taut /uiciix .' The more earth-like they become in colour, the nearer I get to that " niimicry " of nature which is so much to be desirecL The less noticeable the hunter is, the better. All regard lor appearances has to be got rid ofi One's spectacles, which are an essential, and a long, square beard, do- 558 -») Stalking Expeditions in the Nyika not add to the beauty ot^ one's outer man to any great extent ! It would be pleasant to have the natives imbued with respect for a white skin for itself, and not merely when it is dressed up in uniform. But I have observed, alas ! that now the negro, if he has come a good deal in contact with Europeans, has already learnt to dis- .TKU'll AND VWO IIKNS criminate in this w^ay. This is particularly marked on the coast, but even in the interior there are symptoms of it. In British East Africa the Askaris have orders to salute any white man who is a guest at the Fort. In German East Atrica, according to my experience, this, would be out ot the question. My spectacles, framed in the best gold, were certainly a source of inconvenience when they became clouded 559 With Flashlight and Rifle ^ from thtj effects of perspiration. So I was obliged frequently to manage without them. Fortunately, my eyesight is very nearly equal to that of the natives. Water for my own use I have for years jjeen accus- tomed to carry with me, in bags of double linen ; and this method I can most confidently recommend. If it is at all possible, I have the water boiled ; but of course I have often been obliged to put up with the contents of some muddy marsh-pool. Neither 1 nor my taxidermist have ever brought with us or tasted any spirituous drinks of any kind what- ever, except in small quantities for cases of sickness : and with the profoundest conviction I can recommend this abstinence, which initortunately is practised only by a very few. Even the little that 1 have had with me has generally been given away to others in cases ot sick- ness. It is certainly because of this abstinence that I have survixed some bad weeks, when wine had a magical effect upon me, owing to my being unused to it, and was, in conjunction with incredible doses of strophanthus and digitalis, the only thing that could possibly have saved my liie. The round disc of the sun has risen in the vaporous distance ; brief, as always in the tropics, but gloriously beautiful, is the spectacle of sunrise. Sharply outlined against the horizon there lies before us, open and cloud- less, the mighty mountain-tract of Kilimanjaro At its feet there are already gathering single small clouds, then clouds in thicker masses ; soon a sea ot vapour 560 ^^ Stalking Expeditions in the Nyika will hide it from our siQ^ht. Beside it we see the Mawenzi- — a dark, threatening, desolate dome of rocks. As we move forward over the scattered blocks of lava we are reminded that this rocky reoion was once the scene of some tremendous volcano's display of power — a primeval convulsion to whose forces, according to Hans Mever, is to be attributed the foundation in course of