Death of a Male 205 



shot came, they hesitate for a moment. ... I take 

 advantage of this to fire once more at the same 

 animal, which upon the first shot jumped forward, 

 and feel certain that my two bullets have struck 

 hard. This time the herd dashes off at a gallop, in 

 the midst of a cloud of dust, and as we emerge from 

 the thicket at a run I see the wounded giraffe 



O 



following painfully. We proceed to examine the 

 tracks. At first there is no blood at all, but its stride 

 has that tired and flagging appearance we know so 

 well, indicating that an animal is seriously wounded ; 

 a little farther on a few drops of blood appear, and, 

 led by the Barotse, we follow the track at a quick 

 trot. 



Suddenly our leader throws himself to the ground, 

 and we imitate his example. The giraffes have 

 stopped two hundred yards away, all assembled in 

 various positions, wdth their necks stretched out in our 

 direction, all so motionless that at a first glance 

 I thought they were a clump of dead trees. Again 

 I fire ; I hear distinctly my bullet strike one of them, 

 and the herd again sets off. But soon we see a giraffe, 

 still moving, lying on the ground, hidden by a hillock 

 which had shielded us from the herd, and with a haste 

 easy to be imagined we get over the two hundred 

 yards of ground and look upon our victim. My 

 men utter exclamations of astonishment at the 

 curious shape of this animal, which they see for the 

 first time. Leaving it in charge of two of them, I 

 set off in search of the one which I have just 

 wounded. 



