196 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. 



ever since on nothing but fish and palm roots, which 

 accounted for the pains they took to show me 

 elephants, the death of one of which bulky animals 

 they knew would secure them an abundance of fat 

 and meat, the favourite diet of an African at any 

 time. All these natives possessed little prick-eared, 

 jackal-looking dogs, which must have accommodated 

 themselves to the fish diet of their masters. 



After spending an hour in examining the various 

 contrivances of these people, I again embarked and 

 paddled off in quest of situtunga antelopes. Much 

 to my regret, however, both on this and subsequent 

 occasions, my endeavours to obtain a specimen of 

 this rare and beautiful water antelope were vain. 

 They are only to be found in dense beds of reeds 

 through which it is difficult to propel a canoe ; and 

 even in districts where they are plentiful, one seldom 

 meets with them. When approached (I speak from 

 native report) they do not attempt to run away, but 

 immersing their whole bodies — leaving only their 

 noses and the tips of their horns above water — trust 

 that they will be unobserved. In this way the 

 natives paddle quite close, and spear them as they 

 stand. The skins of these antelopes, many of which 

 I saw, are of a uniform light greyish-brown colour, 

 with very long fine hair, the horns of the males being 

 about two feet in length, and of- a spiral form, like 

 those of the koodoo, or, better still, the inyala of the 

 south-east coast. The feet of this species are of an 

 enormous length, which no doubt is a provision of 

 nature to enable them to walk across the soft, boggy 

 marsh land in which they live, in which an animal 

 with a short hoof would assuredly sink. 



On my way back I shot a lechwe ewe, which I 

 gave to my guides, and which they handed over to 



