604 AFRICAN GAME ANIMALS 



of wild horses, do crouch flat and endeavor to escape the 

 eyes of their foes; but the aduhs trust only to their keen 

 senses and their speed for safety. Tommies frequently 

 lie down, but they never seek to escape observation when 

 lying down, and, on the contrary, usually seem more anxious 

 and alert at such times than when standing. They seem 

 to know that they are at a disadvantage when not standing. 

 Their speed is great. Mr. Rainey's greyhounds were unable 

 to catch them. When pursued by an ordinary dog they 

 merely play along in front of him, bounding and cutting 

 pranks, and treating the whole affair as a frolic. The 

 cheetah, however, can run them down, as it can every other 

 animal on the face of the earth. The fawns are preyed on 

 by jackals, other small beasts of prey, and eagles, the 

 adults by hunting hounds and cheetahs; but they do not 

 wander into the domain of the leopard and are too small 

 to be eagerly pursued by the lion, the arch enemy of all 

 the bigger ruminants. 



Tommies are gregarious and polygamous. They are 

 found in small parties and also at times in bands of forty 

 or fifty individuals; and occasionally they are found singly 

 or in couples, an old buck by himself or a doe with a couple 

 of fawns or a couple of young bucks. The does are pro- 

 lific; we found fawns of every age, and sometimes one, 

 sometimes two, with the mother. Tommies are grazers. 

 They feed and rest alternately for a few hours at a time. 

 They may be seen resting, feeding, or drinking at every hour 

 of the day. They are easily tamed and make pretty and 

 amusing pets. We often ran across them in the houses 

 of the Boer settlers on terms of the utmost familiarity with 

 the children. Normally, they are the least wild of the 



