36 DAYS AND NIGHTS BY THE DESERT. 



another wounded one, so it could not be far off. 

 He then pointed out the spoor of the second victim, 

 told me that it had got a wounded hind leg, and that 

 we would certainly come across it in less than a mile. 



This was putting a new face on the matter, so 

 off we started in pursuit ; for there is nothing so 

 reprehensible, I may say unpardonable, in a hunter, 

 I will not say sportsman, as to leave a wounded 

 animal to die a lingering death of agony, the result, 

 possibly, of want of food and water. 



The spoor was not difficult to distinguish, for 

 the unfortunate had followed the steps of his com- 

 panions ; the disabled limb leaving in places quite 

 a noticeable furrow, where the tip of the hoof had 

 dragged along the ground. The pace was made so 

 fast by the Bakalihari that I had to move my horse 

 at a trot to keep on proper terms with them. At 

 their best gait, on they went, never hesitating or 

 pausing for an instant. Not a word was spoken by 

 any one ; this very silence proclaiming how absorbed 

 they were in their work, how confidently they ex- 

 pected success, and with what firmness of belief 

 they anticipated soon shedding more blood. Fiends 

 they looked, and fiends they were for the time 

 being, having thrown to the winds every other 

 thought and idea save the love of slaughter. 

 Steadily and unweariedly the pursuers kept up their 

 pace, although we had now gone more than a couple 

 of miles, they leading me by about fifty yards, more 



