CHAP. vin. ANECDOTES OF ANTELOPES. 387 



instantly a wild shriek, and his falling to the ground, 

 announced that it had charged and gored him. A., from 

 his prominent position, had, as well as myself, been able 

 to see everything that happened, and I had hardly pushed 

 my way through the group of coolies and Kaffirs who 

 surrounded the unfortunate man, before he joined us. 

 The brute had gored him right through the abdomen, and 

 his bowels were protruding in such a fashion as to tell us 

 that there could be but little hope of his recovery. A. 

 however at once sent off a man with orders to despatch 

 the horse-keeper for the nearest doctor, and a litter having 

 been extemporized from the branches which strewed the 

 ground, the man was carried to the lines. After this had 

 taken place, A. said that he hardly liked to go after the 

 antelope again while his man's life hung in the balance, 

 but that there was no reason why I should not ; indeed, 

 that he thought that the men would take it ill if no 

 attempt was made to avenge their companion, and that I 

 might take as many of them with me as chose to go. One 

 or two of the coolies, of whom, however, there were not more 

 than a dozen altogether, offered to accompany me, but as 

 they are, unless trained Shikaris, utterly useless for such 

 work as we had before us, I preferred taking three or four 

 of the Kaffirs. 



In my hurry to reach the wounded man I had only 

 preserved an indistinct idea of the direction taken by the 

 nkonka, and it was no easy task, although I was ably 

 assisted by the natives, to track him among the fallen 

 trees and branches, and it took us some hours before we 

 finally traced him into the jungle in which he had taken 

 refuge. It was but a narrow strip, not thirty yards wide, 



