IN THE FOREST 



It is striped, in the form of ribs, with white bands 

 descending from the spine and running towards the 

 belly. The forehead and the throat are ornamented 

 with tufts of hair ; both sexes carry horns, which vary 

 in length from 30 to 37 inches in the males, and from 

 31 to 39 in the females. Next to the great pachy- 

 derms and the buffaloes, the eland is the finest game 

 the sportsman can gain. To shoot it, a good deal of 

 trouble is, however, necessary, for it is a great traveller, 

 and when you have discovered its fresh tracks, it is 

 by no means certain that you will cut its throat : it 

 is necessary to follow the beast for weary hours, and 

 if the wind changes, or if you let yourself come within 

 range of its eyes, which are keen, you will be certain 

 to be disappointed. The eland daily performs long 

 journeys j having a craving appetite to satisfy, it 

 requires tender herbs and fresh shoots, the bark of 

 certain mimosas, and the leaves of resinous trees. 

 It is perhaps the animal which supplies the most fat 

 to the hunter, without reckoning its abundant and 

 excellent meat j I have known an eland yield 

 twenty-five loads of meat. 



Naturally the Kafirs are partial to this great beast, 

 of which they annually kill an enormous number. 

 It is, moreover, not to be wondered at that a host of 

 legends are connected with the eland, of which the 

 following are samples : — Whoever has not a gift 

 cannot kill an eland ; he follows it a long time, when 

 the animal disappears, without leaving any traces : 



(67) 



