STRATEGY 171 



knew that an attempt to do so would have en- 

 abled me to close with them by putting on a 

 spurt. 



Prince knew his work and had settled down 

 to that steady, tireless stride I knew and loved 

 so well, and which he could easily keep up for 

 ten miles without a rest. The wind sang as 

 we cleft it, rushing through the swaying " toa." 

 The desert lay before us as level as the sea. 

 A few springbucks, waifs from some trekking 

 herd, stood at gaze as we swept by. They 

 knew quite well what my objective was and 

 accordingly were not alarmed. Paauws arose 

 here and there on heavy wings; the flight of 

 one startled all others in sight. Ostriches 

 scudded away in various directions. The 

 desert was awake; word of the presence of 

 man,— of the arch-enemy on the war-path — 

 had been borne to its farthest bounds. 



The course of the herd was a segment of 

 the periphery of a wide circle; my course was 

 also a curve, but an elliptical one, — for it con- 

 tinually impinged on the leaders so as to con- 

 tinue pressing them away from the wind for 

 every possible yard. But it was clear that very 

 soon the oryx would be able to attain the course 

 which was the object of their swift endeavour; 

 this was rendered inevitable from the moment 



