104 A BUCK ON THREE LEGS. 



fresh cast, when I noticed a few reeds on ahead ; I went 

 towards them, and, upon getting within one hundred 

 yards, saw my wounded buck jump up and gallop off. 

 With his three legs he could beat my pony's four. So I 

 pulled up, and tried a long shot at him. He got it in 

 the stern, stumbled, recovered, and held on. I loaded, 

 and kept him in sight, thinking he would certainly drop. 

 But no such luck ; he staggered along, and was getting 

 away from me, when I saw that he was going down a 

 steep hill at a pace as though he had his legs sound. At 

 the bottom of this hill there was a large watercourse, 

 about twenty feet wide and ten deep. He could not stop 

 himself when he saw this in front, owing to having but 

 one front leg sound, but tried to leap it. This he failed 

 in doing by a long way, and dropped with a crash to the 

 bottom of the ravine. My pony had been much interested 

 in the chase, and was nearly following suit by rushing 

 into this watercourse. As I was going at speed down the 

 hill, and had my gun in my right hand, I could with 

 difficulty pull him up with my left. I jumped off, and 

 ran to the edge of the ravine, where I saw the reitbok 

 trying vainly to leap up the steep bank. I gave him a 

 third shot, which dropped him dead. It was astonishing 

 to see with what wounds he had held on; the dose of 

 buck-shot had made his shoulder look as though it 

 suffered from a severe attack of smallpox ; and the second 

 bullet had gone half through him, a raking shot. Some 

 Kaffirs who were passing soon after conveyed him home 

 for me ; and he proved to be, by scale, one of the heaviest 

 bucks that had been shot near Pietermaritzburg for some 



