62 THROUGH ANGOLA 



on a bull sable about 100 yards off and half hidden 

 behind a tree. The sable's head was on one side 

 of the tree and his hindquarters on the other, his 

 " vitals " being covered by the trunk. Although 

 I expected a big-horned beast, the size of the 

 bull's huge curved horns, which actually showed 

 on both sides of the tree, so astonished me that 

 I lost the fleeting chance in wonderment. When 

 I recovered from my astonishment and manoeuvred 

 to take the shot, the sable dashed off and got 

 safe away. It would have been possible to shoot 

 the animal in the hindquarters, but, having already 

 wounded two animals in succession on this trip, 

 I was particularly anxious not to add a third to 

 this number. We followed up the spoor of this 

 sable for some miles, and saw him again when he 

 was running through open forest, 300 yards 

 away, but he never gave another reasonable 

 chance. 



The villagers who lived near our last camp 

 brought in a cob's head, apparently the one I had 

 shot two days before ; the horns were certainly 

 bigger than those of a Buffon's cob. 



The country towards the Coanza River is 

 undulating and forested, that towards the Loando 

 open with plains of short grass and many ant- 

 hills. My information in England was that the 

 giant sable browsed on a particular kind of bush ; 

 but the local hunter said they were to be seen 

 grazing in these flats, so we searched them to 

 settle the point, and get, if possible, photographs 

 of a herd in the open. 



We foil lid n good deal o!' spoor of hot]. s;ih]r 



