276 KLOOF AND KARROO. 



the vaal rhebok to the higher ; but, as in the present 

 instance, when alarmed, they will temporarily unite 

 till the danger is past. Bang ! bang ! bang ! a kill 

 and a half and one clean miss (alas ! mine), for the 

 game is up and past like lightning. A rooi rhebok, 

 smitten by Tobias's bullet, is down and struggling ; 

 a vaal rhebok, with one of Charlie's bullets clean 

 through him, leaps in the air almost like a springbok, 

 and presses on, hard hit. He, too, is secured at the 

 second ambush, both rifles there, by a mistake, being 

 emptied at him. Thus the rest of these antelopes 

 escape, leaving only two of the troop behind them. 

 We wait five minutes longer, and then we know the 

 shooting is over ; no more bucks will now pass. We 

 whistle to our friends in the higher ambush, and 

 gather together the game. As we look across a 

 broad deep kloof to another range, Tobias points to 

 something in motion. It is a troop of nine zebras, 

 which, scared by the firing, are tearing away over 

 the mountain at headlong speed. They are soon 

 lost to view. These splendid creatures, naturally 

 wary to a degree, are, from much persecution, 

 extremely hard to find, and only at early morning are 

 to be seen within some miles of this point. 

 Occasionally, however, they will run with the horses, 

 mules, and donkeys, that range over the hills, and 

 have even been driven down and captured in this 

 way. 



While we light our pipes, and Tobias, assisted 

 by two of our number, proceeds to gralloch the slain 

 antelopes, we others examine his rifle. He is not a 

 rich Boer, or he would not have taken service with 

 our host as overseer, and he possesses no newer 

 weapon than an old "roer" that belonged to his 



