Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-27

up and down and waved my arms to let
them know that I was not an antelope
But they took it only as a symbol of
reciprocal insanity and jumped up and
down and waved their arms back and
then shot their guns off at me again.
The sayings OF famous men in tense
moments flashed across my mind
Capt. Bragg!" Don't fire until you can
see the whites of their eyes!" They
seemed so comforting and meaty. I
pictured myself stretched on the sward
riddled with bullets and remarking,
Please pass the sponge cake" or some
simple phrase that would ring down the
centuries. Then Flint blew a whistle.
The roundup was over. And that Is
the last roundup I ever attended or
ever expect to attend
THE conversation at lunch turned on
the question of what a safe coun-
try Africa was to live in. One and all
these natives lauded their adopted land
in this connection. To be sure, Smith
had just died of fever; Jones had lust
been gnawed by lion; Terwhilliger had
just been stepped on by an elephant:
buffalo had just tossed Barnes 20 feet
into the air
Such things as these only proved the
rule to these men, and while I was
willing to admit from what / had seen
and heard that Africa was doubtless a
safe place, it looked to, me as though
the death rate was about one apiece
all around
From this moment I decided to be
careful-even little more careful than
I would be in New York or Paris.
The next week We set out for the
Elgayo Escarpment after Big Stuff.
Flint. Gregg and I led of. followed by
Nandi crackers in loose formation.
Then. dragging rearward like q futile
tail that had been stepped on and
ruined. shuffled the Kavirondos, the
traditional burden-bearers. My son
was under the weather, so we had 20
leave him behind.
That night We camped at an Elgayo
village. AS We were taking a leiSurely
dinner. four warriors lined up 10 feet
away from our table. Flint conversed
with them briefly.
They claim they know where the
buffalo are" he remarked land want
to take us there in the morning. So
with your approval, we'll start at
am
When we started the whole village
was at our heels. from immature in
fants with protruding bellies to ancient
men-mere frames of bone draped with
skin. Hunting buffalo seemed a matter
OF great enticement to these Elgayo: a
festive occasion; an event that palpi-
tated with interesting possibilities.
DO they think I'm a matador or
something?' I asked Flint. why all
this popularity"
mo, they think they're going to come
by some meat" he answered. They're
not interested in what you do, except
as it leads to carnage and carcasses.
Just word about these buffalo.
They're quite dangerous"
''Yes?" inquired. after pause. go
on"
That's the word" he answered.
dangerous"
1t made more impression upon me
than If he had delivered Chautauqua
lecture on the subject. I had read of
their 'ferocity and cunning. of how,
in grassy country, when wounded they
Topped back on their own trail to wait
for and Unexpectedly annihilate, the
hunter phlegmatic enough to follow
them. I was given to understand that,
as CHASTITY climax. they worked over
their victims with hoof and horn until
what remained required but a small
basket for removal. All this was com
mon knowledge. Now realized they
were dangerous as well.
x X x
FOR an hour We stumbled through
= the dark Then, Just as the steely
Iiylrr N1@s
into dim outline. we halted abruptly to
find ourselves in a country of minia-
ture hills and hollows. covered with a
dense tangle of bush. Save for an
intricate network Of game trails, for
the most part arched over like tun-
nels. it was an impenetrable, matted
jungle.
The crackers removed their sandals.
the small circlet of bells worn around
an ankle, to prevent them from spear
ing each other in the dark, or tall
grass, and the small strip OF, cotton
cloth which, they wore, naively, about
their waists. These preparations, this
stripping for action, SO to speak, had
most sinister appearance.
You're first" said Flint, pointing to
one OF the brush tunnels. He spoke
as though 1t was distinguished honor.
Follow your tracker closely, and I
might add that you'll have to work
fast. Buffalo 10 or 20 yards away are
hard to see in shadows. I'll be COW
ering you"
A well-oiled, shadowy Elgayo slipped
into the trail ahead of me, and I was
obliged to follow him, bent almost dou-
BILE. and stepping high like a cat with
walnut shells on its feet, to avoid the
snaky branches. Thus we proceeded
on our quest for buffalo.
And now I became awake to the
devilish designs of this tracker, Musswa,
slipping along SO silently in front of
me. In. the ground beneath our feet
were huge circular impressions, maybe
six inches in diameter, bisected by q
partition of earth moulded by the cleft
in the hoof that formed it. For hoof-
print 1t was, incredible as It seemed
What was more, these Impressions had
been stamped but q few minutes pre-
viously. 1t was clear, our object was to
follow them silently until We overlook
their progenitor.
Then, from behind us, came an awk:.
ward crashing In the thicket, followed
by couple Of coughs and sneeze
Instantly, in front of u.s. not more than
10 yards away, arose another kind OF
crashing produced by the head
long flight of huge body of boundless
vitality. Shaking with rage, Musswa
turned to quell this unspeakable breach
Of etiquette. His glance was full OF