xxvii THE FINDING OF THE NEW ELAND 307 
way had followed me up, found the pony where I 
had left it tied to a tree, and brought it on to me. 
With a bright grin on his face he thrust the reins 
into my hand, and I was up and galloping off in an 
instant. 
I soon discovered that I had further to go than 
I expected, for I was forced to make a big detour 
in order to keep out of sight of the herd; but on 
halting once or twice and peeping through the trees 
I saw that all was going well and that they were 
still calmly moving on in the right direction. The 
last quarter of a mile had to be negotiated in 
the open, but I found that by lying flat down on 
my pony’s back I was completely hidden from the 
advancing herd by an intervening swell in the 
ground. In this manner I managed to get un- 
observed to the lee of my hillock, where I dis- 
mounted, threw the reins over a stump, and crawled 
stealthily but as quickly as I could to the top. I 
was in great doubt as to whether I should be in 
time or not, but on peering, hatless, over the crest, 
I was overjoyed to find the whole herd just below 
me. One of the eland, not twenty yards off, saw 
me at once, and stood still to gaze at me in astonish- 
ment. It was a female, however, so I took no notice 
of her, but looked round to see if my great bull 
were anywhere near. Yes, there he was; he had 
passed the spot where I lay, but was not more than 
b Spee 
