74 THE OUT-STATION; OR, 



remainder of the party have secured their tro- 

 phies, and refreshed themselves (with, I am afraid, 

 something stronger than tea- water, even at that 

 early hour), away we proceed after the next nearest 

 herd. 



In some cases, perhaps, we attempt to pursue the 

 fugitives, but this is, in general, lost labour, for, as 

 the " burnt child dreads the fire" (a proverb, a Mile- 

 sian brother officer of mine improved into " It's the 

 drowned child dreads the water"), they are no sooner 

 out of the reach of our balls, than they are " over 

 the hills and far away," and it is truly astonishing 

 to witness the rate they go at, when they settle down 

 into one of their swing trots; I believe it would puzzle 

 a horse to keep up with them even for the distance 

 of a mile. 



To see the remainder of a herd that has been 

 attacked charge through their opponents, and then 

 rush headlong through the jungle, hearing down 

 in their course every opposing obstacle (like a pack 

 of hounds running through a field of standing corn), 

 is a spectacle to be viewed to admit of any adequate 

 imagination of it. 



The next herd that we find is, probably, located in 

 a totally different position, and we form our tactics of 

 attack accordingly; always remembering it is totally 

 impossible to attack them in an open space, as they 

 seldom ever act on the offensive, or even on the de- 

 fensive, until they are forced to. 



On this second occasion I was more fortunate than 



