388 AFRICAN GAME TRAILS 



as it is savage, although its size and the tremendous power 

 of its jaws ought to make it as formidable as the fierce 

 spotted cat. 



The day after this incident we came on a herd of giraffe. 

 It was Kermit's turn for a giraffe; and just as the herd got 

 under way he wounded the big bull. Away went the tall 

 creatures, their tails twisting and curling, as they can- 

 tered along over the rough veldt and among the thorn- 

 bushes, at that gait of theirs which looks so leisurely and 

 which yet enables them to cover so much ground. After 

 them we tore, Kermit and Tarlton in the lead; and a fine 

 chase we had. It was not until we had gone two or three 

 miles that the bull lagged behind the herd. I was riding 

 the tranquil sorrel, not a speedy horse; and by this time my 

 weight was telling on him. Kermit and his horse had 

 already turned a somersault, having gone into an ant-bear 

 hole, which the tall grass concealed; but they were up and 

 off in an instant. All of Tranquillity's enthusiasm had 

 vanished, and only by constant thumping with heels and 

 gun butt could I keep him at a slow hand gallop, and in 

 sight of the leaders. We came to a slight rise, where the 

 rank grass grew high and thick; and Tranquillity put both 

 his forelegs into an ant-bear hole, and with obvious relief 

 rolled gently over on his side. It was not really a tumble; 

 he hailed the ant-bear burrow as offering a way out of a 

 chase in which he had grown to take less than no interest. 

 Besides, he really was winded, and when we got up I could 

 barely get him into a canter; and I saw no more of the run. 

 Meanwhile Kermit and Tarlton raced alongside the wounded 

 bull, one on each flank, and started him toward camp, 

 which was about five miles from where the hunt began. 

 Two or three times he came to a stand-still, and turned first 

 toward one and then toward the other of his pursuers, 

 almost as if he meditated a charge; but they shouted at 

 him and he resumed his flight. They brought him within 

 three hundred yards of camp, and then Kermit leaped off 

 and finished him. 



