32 EXPEDITION INTO [Chap. V. 



possible to contemplate his ungainly figure without 

 laughter. Wheeling and prancing in every direc- 

 tion, his shaggy and bearded head arched between 

 his slender and muscular legs, and his long white 

 tail streaming in the wind, this ever-wary animal 

 has at once a ferocious and ludicrous appearance. 

 Suddenly stopping, showing an imposing front, and 

 tossing his head in mock defiance, his wild red 

 sinister eyes flash fire, and his snort, resembling the 

 roar of a lion, is repeated with energy and effect. 

 Then lashing his sides with his floating tail, he 

 plunges, bounds, kicks up his heels with a fantastic 

 flourish, and in a moment is off at speed, making 

 the dust fly behind him as he sweeps across the 

 plain. 



On the 7th we reached Boks-fontein, where, dur- 

 ing the night, two of the horses absconded. Having 

 been bred in the neighbouring district, called New 

 Hantam, to the grass of which cattle are much 

 attached, it was surmised that they had strayed 

 thither : and whilst Piet and Andries were des- 

 patched in pursuit of them, we continued our 

 journey to the Seven Fountains. Here the face of 

 the country was literally white with spring-bucks,* 

 myriads of which covered the plains, affording us a 

 welcome supply of food. When hunted, these 

 elegant creatures take extraordinary bounds, rising 

 with curved backs high into the air, as if about to 

 take flight : and they invariably clear a road or 

 beaten track in this manner, as if their natural dis- 

 * Gazella Euchore. Delineated in the African Views. 



