82 ROOSEVELT HUNTING GROUNDS. 



hunter, coming upon him unawares and tossing him into eternity. A 

 wounded buffalo has a nasty trick of appearing to run away as if panic- 

 stricken; then, after dashing away for a mile or so, well out of sight, 

 circling round and returning to the trail. Then hiding in the high grass 

 or forest, he patiently awaits the coming of the hunter in the hope of 

 charging him unawares. As his vitality equals his cunning, and both 

 are backed by an awful strength, the buffalo is considered, next to the 

 lion, the most dangerous of the big beasts. 



SABLE ANTELOPE. 



The sable antelope is mentioned here because, albeit not of large size 

 among his kind, he is one of the most dangerous. He has long spear- 

 like horns and is usually hunted with a pack of dogs. A herd of sable 

 antelope when finally brought to bay is certainly a noble sight, and after 

 the first encounter their pursuers are careful indeed of the distance they 

 keep between their bodies and those death-dealing horns. Li spite of 

 their nimbleness more than one good dog is usually impaled in a hunt, 

 and the sportsman himself has even met death by coming in too close. 

 The sable antelope is smaller than the roan and his coloring is different, 

 though the shape of the body is quite similar in the two species. 



HARTBEESTS AND GNUS (WILDBEESTS). 



Perhaps of all the soft-skinned beasts of big caliber in Africa the hart- 

 beests and gnus are the hardest to kill. The .wildbeests are not so dif- 

 ficult to stalk, but their vitality and staying qualities are something 

 phenomenal. AVhen sound they will invariably outrun a horse, and even 

 when shot through the lungs they have been known to gallop out of 

 sight. 



The hartbeests are a species of antelope named "hard beasts" by the 

 Dutch, who had the first long experience with them in South Africa. 

 The British often varied their christening by calling them "nasty beasts"; 

 and all because the creatures posted their sentries in such a wonderful 

 manner that it was almost impossible to get within fair shooting dis- 

 tance of a herd. The three varieties common to British East Africa are 

 Jackson's, Coke's and Neumann's. They are all of a rich fawn color of 

 varied shades and also vary somewhat in the shape and size of the horns, 

 Jackson's hartbeest carrying the heaviest and longest. 



