THE WATERBUCK 129 



close behind, there burst forth a wild onslaught of yelling 

 Shilluks, bounding- past us over bush and brake. They 

 were our friends of the morning ! We thought to have 

 given them the slip ; as a matter of fact they, scenting 

 meat, had followed us unseen the whole day! But what 

 a nice sense of feeling those stark savages had revealed. 

 Once they realised that their personal company was not 

 acceptable, they had kept absolutely out of sight till they 

 thought they could render us a service. 



Disabled as he was, the stricken bull had nearly 200 

 yards' start and, terror lending wings to his heels, got 

 away through the bush at a speed which, one might 

 reckon, would far outdistance any human pursuer. But 

 these stalwart savages pressed him hard from the start 

 held him for a long mile, possibly more and finally killed 

 him with the spear. The wounded beast had the speed ; 

 the savages the sleuth. With amazing skill they kept 

 heading the quarry from one wing of flying spearmen 

 right on to another which lay concealed. A wilder scene 

 I never witnessed both the actual chase and subsequent 

 division of the spoils, an operation which evoked furious 

 quarrels among the Shilluks themselves. 



It is right to add that these savages thoroughly 

 recognised the principle of " First blood." On our reach- 

 ing the kill, the whole crowd sat panting like a pack of 

 wild hounds around the victim, but none touched the meat 

 till we gave the word. 



Upon close examination the dead beast corresponded 

 exactly with our impressions at the distant view. The 

 colour was uniformly pale rufous, extending to the 

 face, which was entirely devoid of the dark features 

 that characterise the iron-grey type of waterbuck. A 

 conspicuous white gorget encircled the throat, but there 

 was no sign of white on the fetlocks. The long shaggy 

 hair of the neck stood out erect, forming a ruff; but that 

 feature is common to all the rough-haired antelopes 

 though never shown in mounted specimens, in which it 



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