SOUTHERN AFRICA. 27 



figure without laug-hter. Wheeling" and prancing- in every 

 direction^ his shag'g-y and bearded head arched between his 

 slender and muscular leg"s^ and his long- white tail streaming* 

 in the wind^ this ever-wary animal has at once a ferocious 

 and ludicrous appearance. Suddenly stopping-, shewing an 

 imposing" front, and tossing his head in mock defiance, his 

 wild red sinister eyes flash fire, and his snort, resembling 

 the roar of a lion, is repeated with energy and effect. Then 

 lashing his sides with his floating tail, he plunges, bounds, 

 kicks up his heels with a fantastic flourish, and in a moment 

 is off" at speed, making the dust fly behind him as he sweeps 

 across the plain. 



On the 7th we reached Boks-fontein, where, during the 

 night, two of the horses absconded. Having been bred in 

 the neighbouring district, called New Hantam, to the grass 

 of which cattle are much attached, it was surmised that they 

 had strayed thither : and whilst Piet and Andries were des- 

 patched in pursuit of them, we continued our journey to 

 the Seven Fountains. Here the face of the country was 

 literally white with spring-bucks,* myriads of which covered 

 the plains, affording us a welcome supply of food. When 

 hunted, 'these elegant creatures take extraordinary bounds, 

 rising with curved backs high into the air, as if about to 

 take flight: and they invariably clear a road or beaten track 

 in this manner, as if their natural disposition to regard man 

 as an enemy, induced them to mistrust even the ground upon 

 which he had trod. 



The treh bokken, as the occasional immigration to the 

 abodes of civilization of countless swarms of these antelopes 

 is called by the colonists, may be reckoned amongst the most 

 extraordinary examples of the fecundity of animal life. To 

 offer any estimate of their numbers would be impossible : 



* Gazclla Euchore. Delineated in Capt. Harris's " Portraits of Game and 

 Wild Animals of South Africa." 



