92 SHOOTING THE DUIKER BUCK. 



encampment on the Natal flat, when I noticed a small 

 animal jumping over some bushes that bordered the road 

 about 150 yards in front. Upon reaching the road, it 

 stopped, and looked at me, and I then saw that it was 

 a duiker. I had placed a bullet in each barrel, and 

 immediately took a shot at the buck. I saw that the 

 animal stumbled as I fired, but it cantered on to a thick 

 patch of bush on my right. I wanted to salute it with the 

 second barrel on its coming out, but, after waiting half a 

 minute or so without seeing it, I dismounted, and crept 

 up to the bush. On peeping in, I saw the duiker, lying 

 on his side. I made ready for a shot, and gave a loud 

 whistle, but it did not move. Upon crawling into the 

 bush, I found that the buck was quite dead, the bullet 

 having gone through its ribs. I was not certain I had 

 hit it at first, although, when I fired, I fancied I heard 

 the " thud" of the bullet. I applied the knife, and carried 

 the buck to the thick bush close by, where, selecting a 

 forked tree in a shady dell, the venison was hung up. 

 From information that I sent my Kaffirs, they called for 

 it before sunset that evening. They were too late : the 

 intense heat, although the venison hung in the shade, had 

 placed the meat beyond even an epicure's idea of what 

 game should be. 



I pursued my journey, and arrived soon after 8 A.M. 

 at my host's. I took some coffee and bread, the latter 

 made from Indian corn, and soon after, mounting my 

 shooting-pony, I started for a kraal that had been 

 pointed out to me as the residence of an old Kaffir who 

 was well acquainted with the hiding-places of the bucks 

 that frequented this locality. I soon saw him, and found 



