94 



THE HUNTER 



ICADIA. 



spring-bok by the thigh and tumbled him over in 

 his tracks. 



There was a "hew bellew" now among my 

 beasts ; such a worrying and tearing as never was 

 seen took place, and I thought no man ever possessed 

 such a swift and unapproachable pack of hounds, 

 until I inspected the quarry, and then, to my 

 disgust, I discovered that it was a victim of brunt 

 sickness, and therefore far from up to its best 

 running form. Yet do not let the reader imagine 

 for a moment that the run was completed in a 

 few hundred yards, for that would be a mistake ; 

 three miles at least were traversed before the buck 

 was brought to earth, and if it had not been weakened 

 by disease, it is quite possible, with such a start 

 as it obtained, it would have shown me and mine 

 a clean pair of heels. 



We were not finished with that afternoon's 

 work, for it was too early in the day to go home, 

 and tell the dogs that they had had their outing ; 

 so I rode through some more brush, and soon had 

 another spring-bok afoot ; it was rapidly pulled 

 down, and, like its predecessor, suffered from 

 brunt sickness. 



