NATURAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 



head till his comrades came to his aid. The clap- 

 ping on of headstall and ropes was but the work of 

 moments in their practised hands, and, with much 

 plunging, prancing and kicking the beautiful 

 captive was lodged within the kraal. 



" While the plans and procedure throughout had 

 been scientifically laid, and correctly carried out, 

 the ultimate capture was as ludicrously unorthodox 

 in method as it was plucky and effective in execu- 

 tion. Catching wild Zebras by laying hold of their 

 ears sounds next-of-kin to catching birds by putting 

 salt on their tails. However, nothing succeeds like 

 success, and the Zebra, a four-year-old mare, was 

 now making things lively in the kraal. In the mean- 

 time the horsemen who had gone in pursuit of the 

 others were having a hard run for it. The ground 

 was so covered with great round stones and young 

 boulders, that there seemed nowhere for a horse to 

 put his foot down. Still, for all that, they got away 

 at a tremendous pace. The foal was a serious check 

 on the other Zebras, and from time to time the 

 faithful creatures would pause to let the little one 

 come up with them. Along the side of the hill they 

 went, and down the slope of a shallow kloof, where 

 trickled a tiny spruit. Here the foal made a false 

 turn, and a rider, dashing forward, cut it off and 

 headed it up the hill and away from the others. 

 Its capture was now only a question of time. 

 Mr. Simon de Klerk was foremost in the run, and 

 at last rode it down, exhausted on the hillside. The 



202 



