ENCAMPMENT IN THE FOREST. 289 



quiet, and having succeeded in stalking to a moderate 

 distance, killed him on the spot with a well-aimed shot 

 behind the shoulder. It was a handsome animal, 

 standing three feet seven inches at the shoulder, and 

 over five feet in length. The horns scarcely measured 

 thirteen inches, dark in colour, each being furnish- 

 ed with a set of half-rino;s in its frontal surface. 

 The entire front of the face, from the eyes down, was 

 a beautiful white. Having taken the head and skin, 

 while the meat was carefully packed up by the men, 

 we continued our march. 



About four o'clock we reached the river, after a 

 pleasant though hot walk through a magnificent forest 

 full of large timber, and here and there extensive 

 tracts of dense underwood, growing in some places to 

 the heisfht of fifteen feet or more. The whole of the 

 jungle we passed through was thickly covered with 

 the footprints of various kinds of antelopes, but as I 

 saw none after killing the bless-bock, I have no doubt 

 they were lying in the cool and secluded recesses of 

 the forest. A few moments sufficed to select a fit 

 spot to camp in, within a hundred yards of the 

 river. The centre of a circle of large trees was 

 chosen for my ground ; and Moloka set the men at 

 work to build me a comfortable hut, while Chinsoro 

 cooked some dinner. After a good feed, I took one 

 gun, and accompanied by Chippootoola, went out in 

 the hope of getting a shot. Walking towards tJie 

 river, I observed a strip of plain on the opposite side, 

 about a quarter of a mile in breadth, and studded here 

 and there w^th small patches of scrub. A forest of 

 apparently the same description as that I had been 



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