228 AFRICAN CAMP FIRES. 



The sparse game of the immediate vicinity had 

 gathered to this fresh feed. A herd of harte- 

 beeste and gazelle were grazing, and five giraffe 

 adorned the sky-line. But what interested us 

 especially was a group of about fifty cob-built 

 animals with the unmistakable rapier horns of 

 the oryx. We recognized them as the rarity we 

 desired. 



The conditions were most unfavourable. The 

 cover nearest them gave a range of three hundred 

 yards, and even this would bring them directly 

 between us and the rising sun. There was no help 

 for it, however. We made our way to the bushes 

 nearest the herd, and I tried to align the blurs 

 that represented my sights. At the shot, in- 

 effective, they raced to the right across our 

 front. We lay low. As they had seen nothing 

 they wheeled and stopped after two hundred 

 yards of flight. This shift had brought the light 

 into better position. Once more I could define 

 my sights. From the sitting position I took 

 careful aim at the largest buck. He staggered 

 twenty feet and fell dead. The distance was just 

 381 paces. This shot was indeed fortunate, for 

 we saw no more fringe- eared oryx. 



