pictured him looking about, silent but alarmed, before 

 deciding which way to make his rush. 



I raised myself by inches, close to the rock, until I 

 could see over it. A magnificent waterbuck bull, 

 full-grown and in perfect coat and condition, was 

 standing less than five yards away and a little to the 

 right, having already passed me when he came to a 

 stop : he was so close that I could see the waves and 

 partings in his heavy coat ; the rise and fall in his 

 flanks as he breathed ; the ruff on his shaggy bearded 

 throat, that gave such an air of grandeur to the head ; 

 the noble carriage, as with head held high and slightly 

 turned to windward he sniffed the breeze from the 

 valley ; the nostrils, mobile and sensitive, searching 

 for the least hint of danger ; and the eye, large and 

 full and soft, luminous with watchful intelligence, 

 and yet mild and calm so free was it from all trace 

 of a disturbing thought. And yet I was so close, 

 it seemed almost possible to reach out and touch him. 

 There was no thought of shooting : it was a moment 

 of supreme enjoyment. Just to watch him : that 

 was enough. 



In a little while he seemed satisfied that all was well, 

 and with head thrown slightly forward and the sure 

 clean tread of his kind, he took his line unhesitatingly 

 down the hill. As he neared the thicker bush twenty 

 yards away a sudden impulse made me give a shout. 

 In a single bound he was lost among the trees, and the 

 clattering of loose stones and the crackle of sticks in 

 his path had ceased before the cold shiver-down-the- 

 back, which my spell-breaking shout ^provoked, had 



444 



