The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1910-10-21

WV leaving the railway we
w reached the Gnaso Nyoro.
AS we got near the river
We saw large herds of zebra, harte-
beest and Thomson's gazelle feeding
on the plains, and we had a glimpse
Of some giraffe. So far we had shot
very little, only meat for the camp.
The first three days Of our trek had
been through waterless tract OF
country. 1t was hot, sandy stretch,
and then very steep pull for the
oxen over the Mau hills. We had
brought a considerable amount OF wa
ter in the wagons, but in spite Of the
greatest care we found our supply was
getting low, and on the third day our
porters suffered a good deal. We
passed several water holes on the
way, but owing to the exceptionally
dry season there was no water, so we
were forced to push on and make a
long march to reach the Big Rock
river, which We did very late that
night. After a days rest we trekked
on to the Gnaso Nyoro. We were now
on our shooting ground. The follow
Ing weeks were full Of interest, and
we soon added wildebeest, impala,
Roberts gazelle, rhino, topi and CIR
affe to our list Of trophies; but so far
no lion had been seen, although we
often heard them at night round the
camp. Eventually we were fortunate
enough to get a good number of lion.
These were usually found on the open
plains and sometimes as many as six
stalk them, and we found the best
way was to gallop them on ponies.
One day, having carefully spied our
ground, We decided to go after a
rhino. The wind was right, but when
we were within three hundred yards
Of him two lions and lioness jumped
np. "Simba, simba" Qion), whispered
changing our solid bullets for soft
nosed, we got on our ponies and had a
most exciting few minutes. They did
not go far, perhaps half mile, before
they turned and faced us, the noness
In the center; they were grunting
turiously and swishing their tails.
The lioness was the most aggressive,
and gave us a good deal of trouble
before she was killed. We also shot
the two lions. It took the men some
time to skin them, and having seen
this done and sent the porters back
to camp we rode quietly homewards.
On our arrival we had quite a recep-
ton; the porters ran out to meet us,
shouting and singing, and danced
round the lion skins in the most alb
surd manner to the accompaniment Of
q grunting chorus.
was very anxious to get an Gland,
but up till now had not seen any
good heads. At last my patience was
rewarded, and we saw two fine bulls
feeding on the edge Of the scrub a
considerable distance away. By the
time we got up to them they had fed
on to the plain, and our only chance
was to gallop them. We started as
soon as the ponies came up. AS we
went along we disturbed great herds
Of wildebeest, zebra, Thomson's ga
zelle, etc., until the whole plain
seemed alive with game; but the
Gland kept moving on, and they had
gone some distance when they sep
arated, and was lucky enough to get
my Gland. The other one, unfortunate
ly, got back into the bush.
We galloped Gland again on another
occasion, but this time the bulls were
accompanied by cows and calves, and
did not go far before R. got his
chance and killed good bull. We
found the Gland meat was excellent,
rather like beef, and welcome addi-
ton to our larder. The same evening
on our way back to camp we met a
number of Nasal, who told us that
a lioness and cubs had been seen en-
tering a donga. We did not see any
thing of her, but we found her lair,
which l photographed; in it were a
quantity of bones and the remains Of
young giraffe.
The Nasal had recently come on to
the plains to get fresh grazing for
their enormous herds of cattle, which
with focks of sheep represent their
wealth. The food Of the Nasal con-
sists of milk, meat and the blood of
sheep and cattle. They never eat
game, and only destroy lions on &C
count of their stock or in self-defense
Their method of killing lion is by
forming ring round him and spear
ing him. The Maisi often came to
the camp, and took great interest In
the heads and skins of the game
The men all larried spears and the
warriors carried, in addition, zebra
shields and bows and arrows. On
trek the women are put in charge of
the pack-donkeys, and they also do
most of the work of building the new
haal.
We saw several ostrich nests, and
also young ostriches with the mother:
1t is not easy 60 distinguish the
chicks when they are quite small,
zhey so closely resemble the color of
the ground. A little gray monkey was
fairly common, and we once saw some
balloons. The prettiest of the monkeys
Was the colobus, the black and white