310 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. 



on to some Banyai kraals (headman Matua), having 

 passed a great deal of eland spoor on the way. The 

 only water here was in a deep pit dug by the Kafirs. 

 About half an hour before sundown I went out with 

 my rifle to look for koodoos, of which animals the 

 Kafirs said there were some about. The sun was 

 down, and twilight fast fading into dusk, when I 

 came across a troop of eland cows. They saw me 

 and ran ; but, following on, they turned to look at 

 me, and one gave me a good chance. Though I 

 could scarcely see the sight of my rifle, I gave her a 

 good shot in the shoulder, on receiving which she 

 only ran lOO yards or so, and fell dead. She was a 

 perfect picture of an animal — a good deal smaller, 

 I thought, than the elands I had shot to the south 

 of the Zambesi, of a light red colour, fading into 

 a creamy yellow shade, with nine very plainly marked 

 white stripes on each side, and a very bhick line all 

 down the centre of the back and tail. The black 

 patches on the inside of the forelegs were also very 

 large and black. 



November idth. — Reached the Zambesi again in 

 the evening, just beyond Kariba Gorge. Saw several 

 herds of game during the afternoon's march- 

 koodoos, zebra, water-buck, and impala. The 

 weather was still intensely hot, both day and night ; 

 and, being damp and sultry, the heat was very 

 oppressive. During the past week the thermometer 

 had ranged from 103° to 110° in very dense shade, 

 during the heat of the day, and never gone below 

 80° all night. Just before day-dawn the other morn- 

 ing it registered 87". 



November i~ith. — Only made a very short day's 

 journey, as the bush, being very thick, was difficult 

 to travel through with the donkeys. Saw great 



