BY THE BROOK 



The impallah antelope alone among the larger mam- 

 mals seeks the brook during the day ; the rest follow in 

 the evening or during the night. The impallahs, often 

 in troops of fifty to one hundred or more, have a great 

 liking for the tender grass growing in the small depres- 

 sions near the water. They graze together, male and 

 female, until the latter retire into the thickets and the 

 high, dry grass to give birth to their young ones. When 

 they see or scent the approach of an enemy, man or 

 beast, the impallahs run to cover. Their flight, in long, 

 high leaps, is a sight which delights the hunter's heart. 



We leave our camp towards evening to watch the 

 game going to the brook. The dwarf antelopes have 

 started on their path. 'They scent our presence and go 

 to cover. 



Although my sight is keen and well trained to dis- 

 cover game in hiding, it was very difficult for me, in the 

 beginning, to distinguish the impallahs from the sur- 

 rounding thicket, the color of which, as a rule, blended 

 with that of the animals. My native companion used 

 to espy them at once. 



It is a source of great delight to me, when the wind 

 is favorable, to watch these big-eyed, graceful animals 

 browsing, with their sensitive snouts to the tender 

 grass and young sprouts of plants and bushes. The 

 nearer the sun approaches to the horizon, the larger 

 grows the number of birds and quadrupeds about the 

 brook and neighljoring pools. My old friends, the in- 



73 



