

VILDEBEESTE. 135 



At first, for the dust was dense, I could only distin- 

 guish the leaders of the drove, which were vildebeeste 

 and ostriches ; but soon after I recognized not only 

 sassaybe, but also other game, in the herd. I could 

 not have been more fortunate in the selection of my 

 place of observation, for when the cavalcade swept 

 by I should not be over sixty paces from them ; 

 and, if I might judge from appearances, there were 

 over a hundred rampant, excited creatures com- 

 posing it. 



The vildebeeste, as they generally are on such 

 occasions, were the leaders fierce-looking, heavy- 

 browed, and formidable-horned creatures, bounding 

 and prancing, with their horse-like tails streaming in 

 the air, while ever and anon their inherent curiosity 

 would cause them to turn to the right or left, to 

 enable them to learn what caused their alarm. 

 These antelopes are fleet, enduring, and possess a 

 tremendous lot of vitality, so require a good horse 

 to overtake them and hard hitting in a vital part to 

 bring them down. At a distance they look like 

 small buffaloes ; close at hand their bodies and limbs 

 are so horselike that their bovine appearance is 

 forgotten, and the uninitiated would almost of a 

 certainty decide they belonged to the equine race. 

 Further, the stranger would conclude that they were 

 mad stark, staring mad for, of all unaccountable 

 antics performed by animals, those of the vildebeeste 

 by many degrees are the strangest and most 



