bucks and everything in its way, and disappear again 

 in the moving mass. They seemed to me to whirl 

 like leaves in a wind eddy : my eyes could not follow 

 them and my brain swam as I looked. 



It was a hot day ; there was no breeze at all ; and 

 probably the herd had been resting after their morning 

 feed and drink when we came upon them. By creep- 

 ing up along the donga we had managed to get un- 

 observed right into the middle of the dozing herd, 

 so they were literally on every side of us. At times it 

 looked as if they were bound to stampede over us and 

 simply trample us down in their numbers ; for in 

 their panic they saw nothing, and not one appeared 

 to know what or where the danger was. Time and 

 again, as for part of a second I singled one out and 

 tried to aim, others would come racing straight for 

 us, compelling me to switch round to face them, only 

 to find them swerve with a dart or a mighty bound 

 when within a few paces of me. 



What Jock was doing during that time I do not 

 know. It was all such a whirl of excitement and 

 confusion that there are only a few clear impressions 

 left on my mind. One is of a buck coming through 

 the air right at me, jumping over the backs of two 

 others racing across my front. I can see now the 

 sudden wriggle of its body and the look of terror in 

 its eyes when it saw me and realised that it was going 

 to land almost at my feet. I tried to jump aside, but 

 it was not necessary : with one touch on the ground 

 it shot slantingly past me like a ricochet bullet. Another 

 picture that always comes back is that of a splendid 

 161 L 



