IN AUSTRAL AFRICA. 3 I I 



almost the central point upon which the whole 

 adventure was being enacted. After about twenty- 

 five minutes of this work the hartebeeste gained 

 some low bush and halted in it. In another moment 

 my companion was on his feet and about to fire, 

 when the game again broke into a gallop, apparently 

 as fresh as ever, but was stopped before going many 

 paces with a shot so effectually delivered, that, large 

 as it was, it dropped as if felled with a pole-axe. 



On skinning and cutting up the quarry we found 

 that the first shot had gone through the lobe 

 of the heart and split it up for the distance of 

 quite an inch ; an illustration of the extraordinary 

 vitality possessed by all the antelope family. If 

 it had been a lion or a leopard that had received 

 such a wound, it never would have moved ten paces 

 from the place where it was struck. 



A person cannot hunt long in Africa before he 

 discovers that all vegetable- feeding animals are pos- 

 sessed of very much more vitality than those that 

 subsist on flesh. But the above is narrated to show 

 what endurance " the old moke " possessed, for 

 if he had gone one, he had gone eight or ten 

 miles at his best pace over very rough ground, 

 with at least fifteen stone on his back, and at the 

 termination of the run, excepting a little flank action, 

 showed no visible indications of fatigue. Dear old 

 horse ! I am not likely to see your equal again, either 

 for companionship, utility, or a knowledge of what 



