BLACK-BUCK SHOOTING. 115 



to bitter disappointment, as lie picked himself up, 

 and went off apparently uninjured. I was inex- 

 perienced in shikar in those days ; and, knowing 

 he was hit, I ran after him. 



Needless to say, the further 1 went, the further 

 I was left behind, and at last my quarry dis- 

 appeared over a low ridge of sandhills some half- 

 mile ahead, leaving me pumped, very hot, tired, 

 and done to a turn ! 



Do you not know, reader, the feeling of bitter 

 disappointment, when, in sport, the prize that is 

 to reward you for your toil seems almost within 

 your grasp ? and yet there comes that one little 

 slip between the cup and the lip which makes all 

 the difference between sending you home happy 

 and contented, and at peace with all the world, 

 or disgusted, uncharitable, and disposed to eschew 

 sport in general, and that individual one in 

 particular in which you have been unsuccessful ! 

 If so, you can imagine my feelings. 



Well, I strolled on, after a rest and a pipe, the 

 consumption of which, I suppose, took perhaps 

 a quarter-of-an-hour ; and, under the circum- 

 stances, this got me my buck. For, once out of 

 sight, he lay down, and his getting stiff from his 

 wounds and exertions caused him eventually to 

 fall a prey to me. 



To resume, however. I sauntered on in the 



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