chap. in. ELAND. 159 



troop of zebra, and after a long crawl I got a capital shot, 

 and hit one hard, but in the confusion of tracks we lost it. 

 Next I fired a couple of barrels at some gnu, which, dis- 

 turbed by H. firing, came galloping across me, but they 

 were some way off, and nothing but a very deadly wound 

 will make one of these tough brutes even show he has 

 been hit. The country seemed literally crammed with 

 game, troops of gnu, zebra, impalla, and sassabi feeding in 

 every direction ; indeed, there was far too much for my 

 purposes, as the herds being so near together, the alarm 

 spread all the more rapidly, and everything seemed con- 

 scious of some approaching danger. Towards afternoon, 

 on nearing a spot where there was a little water, round 

 which the game was feeding in countless numbers, I saw 

 a herd of eland, and tried all I knew to stalk them. The 

 ground was, however, so open that the gnu, which had been 

 suspiciously turning in my direction for several minutes, 

 at last took to flight, and communicating the alarm to 

 the various species of game in sight, they all joined into 

 an immense drove, nothing short of one thousand strong, 

 upon which I jumped up and ran on in hopes of a shot ; 

 but although I could easily have killed either gnu or 

 zebra, some of which passed me within twenty yards, I 

 was forced to fire at two hundred and fifty yards at the 

 eland, as I found that I could get no nearer, and that, 

 led by the fleeter kinds, they were fast leaving me. 



I then pulled up, as I saw I was driving the game 

 away from home, and concealing myself hi the long grass, 

 I sent a boy round to try and head them, and turn them 

 my way. This he did not succeed in doing, but instead 

 of returning, he made signs for me to come on, and on 



