120 LODGES IN THE WILDERNESS 



was now clearly visible. Most of them were 

 quietly grazing in the mild sunshine. Now 

 and then a few detached themselves from the 

 main body and, one behind the other, bounded 

 away for a few hundred yards on a course 

 curved like the blade of a scimetar — " pronk- 

 ing" with the sheer joy of unspoilt life. After 

 such an excursion they would rejoin the others 

 and go on feeding. And I had come to . . . 

 But if I had let Jekyll climb to my crupper 

 Andries would have got no shooting. The 

 herd was a small one ; it did not number more 

 than about six hundred. It was curious that 

 these bucks had not joined in the general 

 migration eastward towards where the light- 

 ning had flashed its message of rain a few 

 nights previously. 



The springbucks had not seen us as yet, for 

 we were still about two miles distant from 

 them. The eyes of these animals seem to be 

 specialised to a definite range as the ear is 

 tuned to a certain gamut of sound. I will en- 

 deavour to explain what is meant by this. 

 They do not seem to notice anything at a 

 greater distance than about fifteen hundred 

 yards. Conversely, should you be lying in 

 ambush and the bucks come to within fifty 

 yards of you, they would evince far less alarm 



