106 ANTELOPES 



the new-comer, viewing them for the first time, is by no means disposed 

 to attribute to them the wonderful powers of galloping they actually 

 possess. When really alarmed and put to it, their pace is, however, 

 extraordinary ; they stretch themselves to their work, and with a long, 

 free, machine-like stride, reel off mile after mile at great speed in a way 

 that, in a long tail-on-end chase, bids defiance to the most gallant 

 hunting-horse and the most determined rider. I have personally tested 

 the fleetness and staying powers of these antelopes on several occasions, 

 and am bound to confess that of all the plain-frequenting game with 

 which I am acquainted, they are, in a fair gallop, the most difficult 

 nay, hopeless to run down. On one occasion, in company with 

 friends, I took part in the chase of a troop of hartebeests over the dry 

 level plains, thinly spotted with camel-thorn trees, in the neighbour- 

 hood of the Maritsani river, in British Bechuanaland. We pushed 

 this troop hard in a chase of at least seven miles on end, with the 

 result that, while we ran our horses to a standstill, the hartebeests, 

 although wheeling round occasionally to have a look at their pursuers, 

 and thereby affording a few long-range shots, easily maintained their 

 lead, and made their escape without the least apparent inconvenience. 

 One of the party was, indeed, wounded and turned out of the troop, 

 but it, too, succeeded in making good its retreat. On another occasion, 

 on a wide open plain in the Kalahari country, not far from the desert- 

 pool of Maqua, I tested the speed and staying powers of a good horse 

 against some of these antelopes, with the result of the utter discomfiture 

 of the horse and the easy escape of the hartebeests. Indeed, if the 

 downfall of these animals depended upon a chase on horseback in fairly 

 open country, few heads would fall to the hunter's rifle. 



" But the hartebeest, although possessed of such fleetness and 

 endurance, has its weak side. Like many other antelopes, it possesses 

 great curiosity ; and even when hunted, a troop, if not pushed too hard, 

 will wheel round suddenly and halt for a few moments to take stock of 

 its pursuers. At such a moment the hunter, if not too far behind, 

 can by means of a spurt get a fairly steady shot at two or three 

 hundred yards' distance ; while a troop may be readily turned, like 

 wildebeest and other game, by firing a bullet or two so as to strike up 

 the sand in front. Occasionally, too, if the leader of the troop be 

 killed, or wounded and turned from its fellows, the rest of the herd will 

 become bewildered, and run hither and thither, so that the hunter may 

 obtain a shot. Then, again, in the open forest country of much of 

 Bechuanaland, these antelopes, if carefully tracked and approached with 

 caution, may be found resting, when comparatively easy shots may 



