102 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA 



as to jupport the animals, and prevent their being jolted 

 about from one side to the other. They should be like 

 miniature horse-boxes : having a grating and a feed- 

 trough in front. 



When pursued the impala is capable of moving at a 

 great pace, and the manner in which he gets through 

 the densest bush without decreasing speed is wonderful, 

 though, owing to his preference for this kind of sur- 

 rounding, it ' is difficult to estimate what his speed 

 would be in open country, relatively to other animals. 

 Perhaps no antelope possesses more natural enemies, 

 and, therefore, nature has bestowed on the species a 

 remarkable capacity for increase, and on the individuals 

 a rare hardiness and tenacity of life. On one occasion 

 a ram was noticed apparently caught by the horns in 

 a bush. When approached it made no effort to move, 

 and examination showed that it was in a partially 

 stunned condition from having charged into the stem 

 of a tree when going at full speed. It was secured 

 and carried unresisting to an empty cattle kraal, where 

 it lay for three days alive, but never fully conscious. 

 On the evening of the third day it died, and a post- 

 mortem investigation revealed the fact that the top of 

 the skull was broken into fragments, the two horns, with 

 a little piece of bone at the base of each, being held in 

 place merely. by the skin and membranes. A blow such 

 as this would in all probability have killed a human 

 being on the spot. At another time a ewe was observed 

 running with a herd, feeding, and apparently unham- 

 pered in her movements, notwithstanding that a great 

 piece, nearly a foot square, had been torn from her side, 

 evidently by the claws of some lion or leopard, whose 

 spring had been just a trifle too short. 



Wherever impala are at all numerous, the beasts of 



