ANTELOPES 133 



carriage, make him appear much larger than his actual 

 shoulder measurement of about forty-four inches prove 

 him actually to be. His long spiral horns are laid at a 

 graceful angle with his back, as, with head slightly raised, 

 he glances curiously but confidently around him. Sud- 

 denly, and without warning, just as we have got him, 

 as we consider, nicely focussed, he curls his bushy tail 

 over his back so that the white underside of it alone is 

 visible, and canters steadily across the open, to halt only 

 on the edge of the opposite bush, into which he presently 

 slowly disappears. He is quickly followed by three full- 

 grown females and the one half-grown beast we saw 

 before, and we resume our pause of expectancy. 



And now the upper edge of the sun just peeps for a 

 moment over that far ridge, seems to hesitate for a few 

 seconds, and then as it were, realizing that all is well, 

 rushes up into full view. The birds redouble their 

 chattering, and a flock of guinea-fowl, with enormous 

 clatter, come whirring down to their feeding-grounds. 

 Ducks and geese, are busy amongst the reeds, and a 

 couple of ha-da-das, uttering the hoarse cries whence 

 they derive their name, are flying high overhead. The 

 feeding inyalas realize that the time for rest has arrived, 

 and all down as far as the " pan " they may be seen 

 singly, in pairs, and sometimes half a dozen together 

 browsing slowly up to the edge of the clearing, there 

 to halt and consider, as does a man on the point 

 of leaping into a cold bath. Then, having apparently 

 made up their minds to take the plunge, they dash across 

 what is evidently considered the danger -zone, their curled- 

 up tails showing like pieces of white cotton-wool. The 

 younger bulls seem' generally to be associated in pairs, 

 while the older ones are seen either singly or accompanied 

 by from one to as many as six females. A good way 



