Chap. XXX.] SOUTHERN AFRICA. 2G3 



with unwearied perseverance, among the liills, 

 during the whole of that and the following day. 

 without attaining even a glimpse of the objects of 

 our quest. At noon of the third day, however, 

 peeping cautiously over a bank, our laudable assi- 

 duity was rewarded by the gratifying sight of the 

 two bucks grazing by themselves, unconscious of 

 our approach, in a stony valle3^ Having disposed 

 our forces, after a moment's consultation, so as to 

 intercept the game from a tangled labyrinth of 

 ravines, the attack was made. The hind leg of the 

 handsomer of the two was dangling in an instant, 

 and in another he was sprawling on the earth. 

 Quickly recovering himself, however, he led me 

 more than a mile over the sharp stones ere he was 

 brought to bay, when twice charging gallantly 

 he was at length overthrown and slain. 



It were vain to attempt a description of the 

 sensations I experienced, when thus, after three 

 days of toilsome tracking, and feverish anxiety, 

 unalleviated by any incident that could inspire the 

 smallest hope of ultimate success, I at length found 

 myself in actual possession of so brilliant an addi- 

 tion to the riches of natural history. The prize 

 evidently belonged to the Aigocerine group, and was 

 equal in stature to a large galloway. The horns, 

 which were flat, and upwards of three feet in length, 

 swept gracefully over the back in the form of a 

 crescent. A bushy black mane extended from the 

 lively chesnut-coloured ears, to the middle of the 

 back ; the tail was long and tufted ; and the glossy 



