THE BIG GAME OE AERTCA 



animal at least somewhere near the heart, I started toward 

 the clump of big trees, in the shade of which the two eland 

 had stood when I shot. 



There was not a sign of any blood marks on this 

 spot, but as we followed the spoor of the two, one of the 

 native trackers observed a few drops of blood on twigs, 

 which evidently had rubbed against the side of the wounded 

 eland. From the height of the marks, I understood that the 

 shot must have hit somewhere in the vicinity of the heart. 

 After having gone exactly two hundred and twenty-five 

 paces from the place, where the eland had been when I 

 fired, I found the big bull dead on the ground. The steel- 

 capped Winchester bullet had gone in through his right 

 side, clean through the lower, pointed part of the heart, 

 broken a rib on the opposite side, and was buried in the 

 fat under the skin on the left-hand side of the animal, 

 from where I cut it out. Had I not been sure that I must 

 have hit the eland in a good place, I might have given up 

 the chase when we saw the two animals dart away. This 

 shows how very careful one must be in following up any 

 game shot at, that the trophies may not be lost, or that the 

 animals be not put to unnecessary suffering through the 

 carelessness of the hunter. 



In spite of the great size and comparative strength of 

 the eland, which would make him a terrible antagonist to 

 either a man or a horse, if he were bent on mischief, it must 

 be remarked that the eland is of a wonderfully mild tem- 

 perament. Although it has been said that eland cows, 

 ^ when accompanied by very young calves, sometimes have 

 courage enough to attack hunting dogs, and even men, in 

 the attempt to defend their offspring, I have had several 



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