THE BIG GAME OF AFRICA 



can now, if he chooses, kill twenty during the twelve 

 months that his license is in force. 



It is remarkable that the hartebeests are able to secure 

 their feed on the sun-scorched plains, where to the human 

 observer there is scarcely any grass to be had, and yet they 

 always seem to be in good condition. And as for water, 

 I believe the hartebeest can go for days without that 

 precious liquid, getting perhaps enough moisture from 

 the dew on the grass in the morning. The kongoni is one 

 of the antelopes which constitute the principal menu of the 

 lion and leopard. Several of the hartebeests that I killed 

 showed unmistakable marks of having had narrow escapes 

 from the big felines. If these should fail to get hold of 

 the kongoni in their first leap, they would never be able 

 to overtake him again. The hartebeest is a pronounced 

 dweller of the plains. Neither the Jackson's nor the 

 Cook's hartebeest are fond of real jungle, although both 

 of them may sometimes feed in very open bush or parklike 

 country. The meat of these antelopes is, as a rule, very 

 good, although they have hardly any fat, in which respect 

 they are like most all other African antelopes, with the 

 exception of the eland and oryx. 



The kongoni is hard to stalk in places where he has 

 been much hunted. The best method seems to be to con- 

 tinue to walk straight for him, as quietly as possible. He 

 will then run away at three or four hundred yards, but 

 only gallop a short distance, and then turn around again 

 to look at his pursuer. I have found that if I ran after the 

 beast, as it turned and galloped off, but instantly stopped 

 and began to walk slowly at the very moment the antelope 

 turned around to face me, I could often, with a little 



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