72 HUNTING TRIPS IN NORTHERN RHODESIA. 



feel sorry for the doom which awaited him. When he had approached to within fifty 

 yards he got suspicious and stood with his head well up, looking fixedly past me. 



I peeped behind and saw that one of the men, feeling curious, was watching the 

 proceedings. There being no time to waste, I shot at once, and the sable fell with a 

 bullet through both shoulder blades. He struggled up, and I saved him a little pain 

 by shooting him in the neck. He had a nice head of 4o^in., and was a very old 

 animal, with a beautiful black glossy hide, with white belly. The native who nearly 

 scared the animal away had the pleasure of carrying the head back to camp, while the 

 other men loaded themselves up with the meat and skin. Old bull sable are often 

 found running alone, and they are usually more difficult to shoot under these circum- 

 stances, for having to rely on their own senses they are very quick in noticing danger. 



Wounded sable can be very dangerous if approached too closely, and cases have 

 been known of them killing men with a thrust from their sharp, long horns. A bull 

 sable's neck is very powerful, and instances have been mentioned of them killing 

 several dogs out of a pack. I would like to witness a pack of wild dogs attacking a 

 bull, but I fancy the dogs would win, for they have doubtless learned by bitter 

 experience to keep away from the sweeping horns, and would likely surround the beast, 

 and attack it from behind, and try to pull out the entrails. I have come on the 

 remains of several animals killed by hunting dogs, but never found the relics of 

 a sable killed by them. Mr. Selous mentions a case of a single hunting dog chasing 

 a bull sable, which shows that they have no hesitation in attacking such animals. 



It is difficult when one has shot a number of animals of one species to pick out 

 the most interesting incidents, but I remember shooting a bull sable when meat was 

 scarce and badly needed in camp. 



Having reached Sasare, the only gold mine yet working in this country, I 

 was staying for a day or two with a friend, Mr. Greer, who was in charge of the mine. 

 As we both wanted some meat to give our boys, and for our own use, I strolled out 

 one morning to try and shoot something. Game was not very plentiful near at hand, 

 but I was lucky to come on a bull sable without having to spoor him, or rather he 

 came on me We were wandering along (three natives and myself) when I saw a sable 

 moving slowly through the bush across our front. We at once sat down and waited, 

 and the animal soon walked within range, when I fired and only hit him in a back leg, 

 which was a bad shot, but I was using a Mauser-Rigby '303 rifle which had just been 

 sent out from home, and which I was not accustomed to. The next shot, as he ran 

 past me, resulted in a hit, and the sable came down with a crash, raising a cloud of 

 dust, the bullet having broken his backbone. The head of this animal only measured 

 38|in., which was very ordinary. This beast was probably between four and five years 



