188 STALKS ABROAD 



certain to be discovered beneath some spreading 

 mimosa. 



I saw a single oryx later, but made a bad miss 

 and lost him. The ground was covered with little 

 prickly balls which stuck to everything which 

 touched them, and made crawling anything but 

 pleasant. When on one's hands and knees a sun 

 helmet is very trying. It hits you in the back 

 whenever you raise your head, and produces a crick 

 in the neck in record time. 



After leaving this single oryx I came on a very 

 large herd of gazelles which got my wind at quite 

 three-quarters of a mile. A string of giraffes hove 

 into view about the same time. With their long necks 

 slanting above the crest of a ridge, they looked like 

 a little fleet of sailing boats beating up before the 

 wind. They have a most curious gait. The only 

 thing I can compare it to is the action of certain 

 crippled men on crutches. The body is balanced on 

 the two fore-legs, the hinder pair are then brought 

 quickly forward at the same instant. 



The next day I shot a good cow oryx. Like 

 all other antelope they have extraordinary vitality. 

 Noticing a large lump on the side of her neck I 

 investigated, and found a "450 soft-nosed bullet, 

 which had obviously been there some time, the 

 wound being quite healed over. On returning the 

 next morning, those parts of the carcase which we 

 had been unable to carry away were picked quite 

 clean by hyaenas and vultures. 



