192 BIG. GAME SHOOTING 
opposite to the elands. I then saw that between them and the 
bush in which I stood, with the wind blowing straight from 
them to me, there was.a largish piece of bush some twenty 
yards long, though rather narrow and very thin, and not more 
than eighty yards from where the bull was lying. Between this 
patch and myself there was little or no covert of any kind, ex- 
cepting grass which was about a foot high and very scanty, and 
one small skeleton bush within about twenty yards of the larger 
patch. I managed, however, by crawling flat on my stomach, 
followed by my pet gun-bearer, to get up to this scanty covert, 
and could just see through the larger patch that the bull was 
still lying down. At this moment, and before I could get any 
nearer, to my disgust I heard a shot fired in the distance. The 
bull stood up, and as he stared in the direction from which the 
shot had come I heard another report ; but, as great good luck 
would have it, instead of bolting all four elands began to walk 
quietly towards where I lay. Exchanging my ‘500 Express for | 
the 8-bore, as I wished to make certain of getting the bull, I 
waited, and thought they never would appear round the corner 
of the bush in front of me, as they kept stopping to look round 
every few paces. 
In a short time a cow appeared round the corner within 
thirty yards of where I lay. I could still see the bull lagging 
behind, and was terribly afraid that this cow would detect me 
before he appeared ; but she took no notice of me and 
walked straight on. Soon after this another cow appeared, and I 
could see the bull standing just on the other side of the bush, 
but would not risk a shot at him through it. At last his grand 
head appeared, but nothing more, and he again stopped. I 
shall never forget my feeling of intense excitement during 
those few seconds. I was in a most awkward position, lying 
flat on my face, and literally aching with suspense and sup- 
pressed excitement, and yet I dare not move to get into a 
better position for a shot, for fear of being seen by either of 
the two cows. At last the bull took a few steps forward, 
and I wriggled myself into a sitting position, gave him both 4 
