The Ordway new era., 1913-04-25
OR cN1p AaxsNzH zM sUAs5 a
N the banks of the rive,

of dense bush mixed
with long grass. stand
ing any height up to If
teen feet. Palms mark
ed the course Of the riv-
er. They were of kind which is Of
greater girth half way up than at the
bottom. These palms grow fruit
which look like cocoanuts, but are
really very different. During the un-
ripe stage the natives obtain them
for the water contained in three little
partitions in the middle. Later on.
when full ripe. they present an ire
sistible fascination for the elephant,
who feeds largely on them. swallow
ing them almost whole. stones and
all. They 'are then Of an orange yell
low within, the outer layer being Of
pulpy consistency with flavor like
pineapple. The natives also are very
fond Of them. but they are said to
make a white man sick and from
what have seen. this appears to be
true.
This camp was in magnificent
belt OF palm trees. The plains which
border the river are usually well
stocked with game. and hundreds of
Buttons Kob can frequently be seen
at one time. This is a handsome an
telope of brilliant red color. carrying
a longish coat (for Africa). and
strong. much-annulated horns, grow
ing lyre-shaped, to a length of twenty
inches. These plains are covered dur
ing the wet season with high grass.
which gradually gets burnt of. leav-
ing the plain bare. black and parch-
ed. The kob are out on the open
parts mostly till ten o'clock and after
three.
When alarmed they run to the grass
or to the bush country. / used to
stalk them for hours. armed with a
telephoto camera, and the annexed
herd Of mine is fairly typical ex-
ample of small herd. The buck Is
seen standing on the left. the does
being very much more on the alert.
The latter have no horns. got this
photograph with lot OF trouble,
stalking being out of the question. I
merely walked alongside Of the
herds. edging in very gradually. As
the afternoon advanced, they seemed
to get more accustomed to me, and
would stand and stare for little
longer each time. This photograph
was taken at about one hundred and
seventy yards. and the larger herd at
two hundred yards.
On one occasion I nearly got q
photograph of a lion. I was follow.
ing along the edge of bit of raised
ground, from which got good view
over the plain. when / came across a
single female kob. browsing con
tentedly beside a small ditch contain
ing water All at once she became
alarmed. and presently made of.
was at loss to know what had scared
her, as 1t was impossible she coult
have got my wind. However, on look
ing over the edge little higher up
saw lioness only one hundred
yards off, just below me. stalking
along the edge of the high grass.
Unfortunately, she saw me as wa,
trying to take her photograph, AM
retired into the long grass, where sh'
80 harmonized with the surrounding
color that could see nothing Of he
at ALL All I could make out wa
what looked like some little blacl
birds jumping about Just where tn
lioness ought to have been. Takini
the glasses. however, at once say
that what had taken for birds wer
the black tips to her ears and tn
black tuft on her tail. So l got
steady shot with the $50 rife at Al
imaginary spot foot below the earl
and scored hit. Judging by the sound
but nothing moved for some time. ur
I'll I saw a lion creeping away a III