158 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



than put one's pony to the gallop, and in ten minutes 

 or less one has ridden close up to the stern of the big 

 antelope, taken one's shot from the saddle, and 

 brought down the quarry. It is as easy as possibly 

 easier than shooting a cow. Yet the sight of a 

 goodly troop of eland running in front of one is 

 marvellously pleasing to the eye. The great beasts 

 usually go off at a slinging trot. When the horseman, 

 as he usually does, turns the eland he intends to 

 shoot out of the herd, it will probably canter for a 

 while. This becoming distressing, it subsides to the 

 trot again, and the hunter presently brings it down. 

 Elands are, however, far more active than one would 

 suppose, the cows especially. I have seen cows jump 

 bushes between 4 and 5 feet in height, and fly over 

 fallen timber with great agility. They will even leap 

 clean over one another's backs in the excitement and 

 heat of the chase. These antelopes can occasionally 

 be driven right up to the waggons and shot there. 

 This is done sometimes with giraffe, but giraffe require 

 a good deal more management, and only the skilled 

 veldt man can accomplish such a feat. Elands have 

 marvellously sleek coats, and, as one skins this game, 

 a strong and very pleasant scent of fragrant herbs 

 rises warm to the nostrils. The horns of the bull are 

 shorter, but far thicker, finer, and more massive than 

 those of the cows. A good bull's horns will measure 

 from 28 to 30 inches very rarely more those of 

 a cow from 28 to 33, and even 36 inches. Quite 

 recently some exceptional heads have been secured 

 from the White Nile and Bahr-el-Ghazal. These 



