XVII WATERBUCK SHOT 349 



the river Bembees, where we found a young Dutch 

 hunter encamped with his wife and family. As yet 

 he had shot nothing — 1 mean no elephants ; but his 

 Hottentot servant had bagged a fine cock ostrich, and 

 the day after our arrival he shot another, also in 

 good plumage. Between the Se-whoi-whoi and the 

 Bembees I saw a great deal of eland spoor, some only 

 a day old, but could not come across the animals 

 themselves nor any spoor fresh enough to follow. 



Between Bembees and Sebakwe, Goulden and I 

 rode out to look for game, and meeting with a small 

 herd of koodoo cows, he shot one. On our way 

 back to the waggons we saw a fine cock ostrich, but 

 as my horse was slow, and I was armed with a ten- 

 bore rifle, I did not go after him. My friend, 

 however, being mounted on a very fast pony, gave 

 chase, and, in the ardour of pursuit, came foul of a 

 thick thorn bush, which dragged him from the saddle 

 and mauled him pretty generally, his face presenting 

 the appearance of a man's who has just had a domestic 

 squabble, or a severe encounter with a wild cat. 



In the afternoon we trekked on to the Sebakwe 

 river, which is only about eight miles distant from 

 the Bembees, and into which it empties itself a few 

 miles below the drift. At daylight on September 5, 

 we crossed the Sebakwe, and after a four hours' trek 

 reached a gully with some water-holes in it. In the 

 evening, after inspanning, I rode on ahead of the 

 waggons, and shot a tsessebe antelope. 



Early next niorning we reached the river 

 " Umniati." The drift was very steep on both sides, 

 but we managed to get through without much 

 difficulty. Here I shot a waterbuck. I also saw a 

 herd of sable antelopes, and the fresh spoor of a 

 white rhinoceros, besides that of a single elephant 



