XIV A CHANCE FOR VENGEANCE 269 



it had a splendid chance for vengeance, of which it 

 altogether failed to take advantage, and I certainly 

 would not care to afford another of its kind a similar 

 opportunity. 



I have not heard whether or not the plague of 

 rinderpest which swept through South Africa in 

 1896, and worked such terrible havoc amongst 

 both the cattle and game of that vast territory, 

 affected the gemsbucks. But, isolated as they are 

 in the arid wastes of the Kalahari, I should imagine 

 not ; and since they are protected from constant 

 persecution by the inhospitable nature of their 

 surroundings, I fancy that they will long outlive 

 many other species of South African game, which 

 but a few years ago were far more numerous. 

 May this be so ; for, though the gemsbuck will 

 alw^ays be hard to find, and by no means easy to 

 bring to bag when found, these difficulties enhance 

 his value, whilst his head will ever be one of the 

 most beautiful and coveted trophies to be won in 

 the hunting-fields of Africa. 



