426 THE GIRAFFE AND THE ZEBRA 



Piet, had as usual slipped off unperceived in pursuit of a troop 

 of koodoos. Our stealthy approach was soon opposed by an 

 ill-tempered rhinoceros, which, with her ugly calf, stood directly 

 in the path, and the twinkling of her bright little eyes, accom- 

 panied by a restless rolling of the body, giving earnest of her 

 intention to charge. I directed Piet to salute her with abroad- 

 side, at the same moment putting spurs to my horse. At the 

 report of the gun, and the sudden clattering of hoofs, away 

 bounded the giraffes in grotesque confusion, clearing the ground 

 by a succession of frog-like hops, and soon leaving me far in 

 the rear. Twice were their towering forms concealed from view 

 by a park of trees, which we entered almost at the same instant, 

 and twice, in emerging from the labyrinth, did I perceive them 

 tilting over an eminence immeasurably in advance. A white 

 turban that I wore round my hunting cap, being dragged off by 

 a projecting bough, was instantly charged by three rhinoceroses, 

 and, looking over my shoulder, I could see them long afterwards, 

 fagging themselves to overtake me. In the course of five 

 minutes the fugitives arrived at a small river, the treacherous 

 sands of which receiving their long legs, their flight was 

 greatly retarded ; and after floundering to the opposite side, and 

 scrambling to the top of the bank, I perceived that their race was 

 run. Patting the steaming neck of my good steed, I urged 

 him again to his utmost, and instantly found myself by the side 

 of the herd. The stately bull being readily distinguishable 

 from the rest by his dark chesnut robe and superior stature, I 

 applied the muzzle of my rifle behind his dappled shoulder with 

 the right hand, and drew both triggers ; but he still continued to 

 shufile along, and being afraid of losing him, should I dismount, 

 among the extensive mimosa groves with which the landscape 

 was now obscured, I sat in my saddle, loading and firing behind 

 the elbow ; and then, placing myself across his path, until the 

 tears trickling from his full brilliant eye, his lofty frame began 

 to totter, and at the seventeenth dischai'ge from the deadly- 

 grooved bore, like a falling minaret bowing his graceful head 

 from the skies, his proud form was prostrate in the dust. Never 

 shall I forget the tingling excitement of that moment. At last, 

 then, the summit of my hunting ambition was actually attained, 

 and the towering giraffe laid low. Tossing my turbanless cap 

 into the air, alone in the wild wood, I hurraed with bursting 



