SPORT IN MOZAMBIQUE 



strongly recommend the employment of a 12-bore, 

 which is quite sufficient to bring down the animal, 

 especially if it is only loaded with buckshot. In the 

 open, however, it is better to take a rifle, a Mannlicher, 

 for instance. 



The male bushbuck, fawn-coloured at first, becomes 

 grey with age. The coat is spotted with white, the 

 delicate legs being ornamented with white fringes. 

 The graceful head is crowned with sharply-pointed 

 horns, 1 which are formidable weapons against dogs 

 and also against the unwary sportsman who is in too 

 much of a hurry to approach his victim. It will 

 make him smart for his rashness. 



The flesh of this antelope is delicate and tender, 

 affording a savoury dish to the traveller and the 

 hunter. On this account the Kafirs wage deadly war 

 against it. Not only do they use arrows and fire- 

 arms, but also various kinds of snares, which I will 

 endeavour to describe briefly. 



The first kind consists of a solid thong fixed to a 

 sapling. An ingenious system of twigs keeps the 

 sapling bent, and the snare is spread open on the 

 ground. As soon as the animal puts its foot in the 

 running noose, the stem rights itself with a jerk, 

 tightening the cord which has caught the animal's 

 foot. This snare is sometimes complicated by a large 



1 Good bushbuck-heads range between sixteen and eighteen inches. 

 The "head," in sporting phraseology, means the skull of an animal 

 embellished with horns. The measurement of the horns is taken from 

 the base to the tip along the outer curve. 



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