THE LESSER KUDU. 



softened the dSbris lying on the ground. I 

 moved forward as quickly as I could, half suffo- 

 cated in the steaming heat of the dense thicket. 

 After three or four hundred yards the beast fell 

 into a walk, so I immediately halted. I reasoned 

 that after a few steps at this gait he would look 

 back to see whether or not he was followed. If 

 his scouting showed him nothing he might throw 

 off suspicion. After ten minutes I crept for- 

 ward again. The spoor showed my surmises 

 to be correct, for I came to where the animal had 

 turned, behind a small bush, and had stood for 

 a few minutes. Taking up the tracks from this 

 point, I was delighted to find that the kudu 

 had forgotten its fear, and was browsing. At 

 the end of five minutes more of very careful 

 work, I was fortunate enough to see it, feeding 

 from the top of a small bush thirty-five yards 

 away. The raking shot from the Springfield 

 dropped it in its tracks. 



It proved to be a doe, a great prize of course, 

 but not to be compared with the male. We 

 skinned her carefully, and moved on, delighted 

 to have the species. 



Our luck was not over, however. At the end 

 of six hours we picked our camp in a pretty grove 

 by the swift-running stream. There we sat down 



