172 LODGES IN THE WILDERNESS 



of my stupid blunder in dismounting too soon 

 and thus throwing away my rare advantage. 

 At length they had it; I could press them no 

 longer. Now the flight is almost dead against 

 the wind; now the trumpet-like nostrils are 

 opened wide against the streaming current of 

 air. This seems to stimulate the fugitives, for the 

 distance between us has perceptibly increased. 



Prince, unbidden, swerved to the right 

 course and we followed hard on the heels of 

 the flying game. It was at length a stern chase. 

 A word to my faithful horse and his stride 

 quickened. Soon it was clear that we were 

 gaining. Herein was an illustration of how the 

 instinct of animals, usually so true, may occa- 

 sionally mislead them. These creatures, in 

 the hour of danger blindly surrendering to the 

 gregarious idea ingrained through the experi- 

 ence of ages, crowded so hard on each other 

 that they got half-smothered in their own dust. 

 Hence it is far more easy to ride down a large 

 herd of oryx than a small one. When it is a 

 case of a single animal, or even of two or three, 

 a stern chase is almost hopeless, no matter how 

 swift one's mount. 



I was gaining rapidly; I overhauled the 

 fawns ,and immature animals and pressed 

 through, passing some of them within a few 



