174 HUNTING IN THE SOTIK [ch. yiii 



invariably seen around the base of a small hill a couple 

 of miles south-west of us. The latter was usually in 

 the company of a mixed herd of Roberts' and Thomson's 

 gazelles. Here, as everywhere, we found the different 

 species of game associating freely with one another. 

 One little party interested us much. It consisted of 

 two Roberts' bucks, two Roberts' does, and one Thom- 

 son's doe, which was evidently a inattresse femme, of 

 strongly individualized character. The four big gazelles 

 had completely surrendered their judgment to that of 

 the little tommy doe. She was the acknowledged 

 leader : when she started they started and followed in 

 whatever direction she led ; when she stopped they 

 stopped ; if she foimd a given piece of pasture good, 

 upon it they grazed contentedly. Around this camp 

 the topi were as common as hartebeest ; they miglit be 

 found singly, or in small parties, perhaps merely of a 

 bull, a cow, and a calf; or they might be mixed with 

 zebra, wildebeest, and hartebeest. I^ike the hartebeest, 

 but less frequently, they would mount ant-hills to get 

 a better look over the country. The wildebeest were 

 extraordinarily tenacious of life, and the hartebeest and 

 topi only less so. I more than once had sharp runs on 

 horseback after wounded individuals of all three kinds. 

 On one occasion I wounded a wildebeest bull a couple 

 of miles from camp. I was riding my zebra-shaped brown 

 pony, who galloped well ; and after a sharp run through 

 the bush I overhauled the wildebeest ; but when f 

 jumped off, the pony bolted for camp, and as he 

 disappeared in one direction my game disappeared in 

 the other. 



At last a day came when I saw a rhino with a big 

 body and a good horn. We had been riding for a 

 couple of hours ; the game was all around us. Two 



