368 LARGE GAME. chap. viii. 



The most curious shot that I ever made was in con- 

 nection with one of these animals. I was walking along 

 outside the reeds of the Nkwavuma with my gun-bearer, 

 and had seen nothing for several miles. At last, the day 

 being extremely hot, we sat down to rest on a large rock 

 which overhung them, and a minute or two afterwards 

 the native, after looking earnestly at one spot, directed 

 my attention to it, and as the breeze bent the reeds for- 

 ward I caught a glimpse of part of the head of some 

 animal. After watching it for some time, we decided, 

 from what seemed to be its long ears, that it must be a 

 doe water-antelope, and when the wind next enabled me 

 to see it, I fired, aiming at where I judged the shoulder 

 would be. Utter silence followed the shot, but on 

 descending into the reeds we found the animal, which was 

 of the species which we had thought it was, lying dead. 

 On proceeding to see where I had hit it, I was much puzzled 

 by the number of bullet-marks, there being no less than 

 three, all of necessity made by the same ball ; and, after 

 taking into consideration the way in which it had been 

 standing, i.e. broadside to us, and the size of the holes 

 — that of entry being always smaller, from the differ- 

 ence of velocity of the missile, than that of exit, — and 

 after breaking it up and tracing, as well as we could, the 

 course of the ball, we made out that it had gone first 

 into the neck close behind the ear on the right side and 

 had come out below the ear on the opposite side ; had 

 gone in again on the left side about eighteen inches be- 

 hind the shoulder, and passing through the body had 

 stopped in the skin where the shoulder and neck join, 

 where we found it, not more than twelve inches from 



