254 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 



On one occasion I was near Loqua-Ghat and want- 

 ing meat for my people I went out to get any- 

 thing I could obtain for the pot. I tried first ground 

 that was considerably higher than that surrounding 

 it. The new grass was a nice height, and ere long I 

 saw several herds of doe swamp deer, but I preferred a 

 stag if I could find one. Although there were several 

 brockets in sight I had to hunt about in unburnt 

 patches before I came across a mature buck. The 

 first I killed had its horns still covered with velvet- 

 yet the greater part of the antlers had formed, although 

 the tips were still soft. Thinking all the stags would 

 be in the same state, I killed two hinds, then rolled 

 over another, which kept turning head over heels, 

 apparently being unable to get up. In its gyrations 

 it fell into a nullah, the banks of which were so rotten 

 and steep that I had to make a detour to get to where 

 the doe had lain, to all appearance in the last gasp. 

 When I got to where she should have been, she was 

 non est ! what became of her I cannot tell. I can 

 only imagine that a tiger must have carried her off. 

 I then came across a large rhinoceros, hit it, and 

 whilst going full pelt in pursuit, my elephant almost 

 kicked up a marsh stag. As I fired, the poor brute 

 sprang up into the air, and then kept bounding on 

 its hind legs and falling down ; at last it lay on its 

 side breathing heavily. I got down to give it the 

 -coup de grace , and to examine the head to see whether 

 the horns had formed. Two does had already been 

 hal-laled, thus there was plenty of meat for all ; so I 

 suppose I must have approached the moribund beast 

 incautiously, for it instantly sprang up and made a 

 vicious prod at me. I jumped aside and as I did so 



