TEST OF SPEED. 173 



as rapidly as I could, for I was terribly blown, I 

 fired, and, would the reader believe it, although 

 not twenty yards distant from the object of my aim, 

 a beast as big as a well -grown two-year-old heifer, 

 I missed it clean. Not so, however, with the 

 second barrel. After its discharge the antelope 

 trembled, as if suffering from a severe attack of 

 ague, then swayed a couple of times, fell over on 

 its side, gave two or three spasmodic kicks, and all 

 was over. 



The first shot I had fired at this beast I dis- 

 covered hit too low down to be fatal, and was 

 therefore little more than a severe flesh wound, 

 thus scarcely calculated to operate much against 

 its speed, so I am inclined to consider that this 

 was a fair trial of swiftness and endurance between 

 a gemsbok and a horse. It must be remembered 

 that the ground was almost level, and free from 

 obstructions of any description, while the oryx was 

 in far better condition than these animals are usually 



Iund. 

 As I have said before, whether the large ante- 

 pes can be ridden down depends entirely upon 

 the condition of your horse, or of the game, and 

 the nature of ground on which it is done. 



But, returning to this run, one of the very finest 

 I ever enjoyed, it cost me a heavy price, for on 

 my return journey I found one clog dead, and the 

 other so seriously injured that I had to shoot it. 



