328 LARGE GAME. CHAP. vn. 



Come along and you shall see him catch one. He '11 go 

 out for me ; and if he does, he is nearly sure to kill." 



" You don't mean to teh 1 me that those half-starved 

 brutes can run alongside of Babey ? " I asked contemptu- 

 ously. 



" Come along and see for yourself/' was the answer ; 

 and putting our horses into a canter we soon reached the 

 village, upon which my friend began, to my great discom- 

 fiture, to relate to the grinning heathen how Babey had 

 been beaten off; and the man, nothing loath to show off 

 before a stranger, at once consented to come and show me 

 how his dogs did it, and off we went. They were not 

 led ; and as soon as we got to the ground and he sent 

 them away, they formed an irregular line of sixty or 

 seventy yards broad, and beat the rise some way in front 

 of us. Up got an oribi to the extreme left, and away 

 went the nearest dog in pursuit ; but an ear-piercing 

 whistle brought it back at once, and prevented the others 

 from following it. At last an old buck, that had lain 

 quietly until we were close to him, got up in their middle. 

 " Nansia 'nyamazane," shouted the old fellow, and away 

 went his curs. For the first twenty yards the buck ran 

 straight, and then I could see him throwing his head 

 round to watch his pursuers, and at once catching sight 

 of the one furthest to the left he bent his course the 

 other way ; but he had not run long in this direction 

 before a yelp, yelp, almost alongside, met his ears, and he 

 found that he had avoided the frying-pan only to tumble 

 into the fire. Wheeling slightly, he tried to run straight 

 away, but the dogs on the left which, instead of follow- 

 ing him in his former digression, had kept straight on 



