there were only low scattered bushes covering the plain. This was emphatically the game country of Africa, and wherever you find this kind of landscape, no matter in what part of the tropical continent, you may be sure it is inhabited by the big African herbivora. We pitched the tent in a snug little corner by the river-side, a kind of peninsula surrounded on three sides by the water, and secured from outward view by bushes and trees. I spent most of the day roaming about with a gun, but only killed a zebra (Equus Chapmani), which had, however, a very handsome hide. A great deal of game was visible from the summit of the little cone, rising on the left bank of the river, but it was evidently very wary, owing to the recent inroads of Taita and Kamba hunters.

It was at night, however, that I hoped to bring down a good bag, by concealing myself at the riverside, and shooting the animals as they came to drink. The banks of the Lumi were, as already mentioned, clothed with a narrow band of dense forest. Here and there gaps had been formed in the dense array of trees, and through these the thirsty animals had made a broad way down to the water. The ground would be pounded into red dust, all turf or vegetation destroyed, and even the tree-trunks on either side of the tunnel-for such it was through the dense woodpolished up to a certain height by the passage of crowds of great hustling beasts. Such a place as this, there was no mistaking. That it had been recently frequented we could tell by the abundance of fresh exuviæ strewing the entrance; moreover, here were bones, skulls, horns, and other fragments of the lions' repasts, which, however thoroughly they might have been picked by hyenas, vultures, and ants, still to the practised

eyes of our guides showed by their condition that some few hours ago they formed part of living individuals. Here I resolved, therefore, to conceal myself after dark, with my gun and plenty of ammunition, and my imagination pictured with delight scenes after the fashion of Gordon Cumming's tales. The best mode of lying in ambush was much disputed. I at first was in favour of making a kind of "skarm," a low pit just deep enough to hold my body, with a fringe of thorny branches round it as a cover. But this, for various reasons, did not meet with the approval of my men. Firstly, we found, on digging just below the soil, that water filtered into the pit, which would render it disagreeable to stand or sit in; and, secondly, it was my guide's opinion that wounded or angry beasts might just walk in on top of me. Consequently we adopted the notion of the Wa-taita, which on the whole was best, namely, to construct a platform between the branches of the trees overhanging the "run," about ten feet

above it.

This was carried out toward the end of the afternoon, and in the evening, having comfortably dined and taken my coffee in camp, I took leave of my men, and was hoisted up on to the platform, together with an 8-bore elephant-gun, a bag of ammunition, a rug, matches, a bull's-eye lantern, and a flask of cold coffee. Two Wa-taita mounted neighbouring trees, settled down in the forked branches, and we were left to commence our night vigil. My camp was only a quarter of a mile distant, and I was quite safe from any wild beasts except leopards or snakes, neither of which were likely to attack me.

Surely, I thought to myself, there could be no pleasanter way of shooting big game than this. Instead