FATAL CURIOSITY. 133 



forage for four days, had lost his condition, and was not 

 fit for a gallop after these fleet animals. There was not a 

 stone or ant-hill near enough to get a shot from, and 

 the grass being very short, stalking was out of the 

 question. I left my horse, and slid along to within six hun- 

 dred yards of the herd without attracting their attention, 

 and lay down in a small patch of long grass to watch 

 proceedings. A knowing old bull-hartebeest, however, 

 was on the look-out, and kept moving from side to side 

 with a careful and suspicious air. I saw that I could get 

 110 nearer, and yet did not like to try my shot from such a 

 distance. I had often heard of the curiosity of the ante- 

 lopes, and that they might be decoyed by this weakness 

 of character. So lying down well out of sight, I took 

 a red silk pocket-handkerchief, and, tying it to my gun, 

 waved it slowly above the grass. The hartebeest saw it 

 immediately, and all left off feeding ; they moved about 

 very suspiciously, keeping a good look-out at the strange 

 object. I kept waving the flag most industriously, and 

 soon saw that they were coming up towards it ; but when 

 about two hundred yards distant, they again stopped, and 

 eyed my signal. Hoping that they would come nearer, I 

 did not fire, and saw them walk knowingly round to lee- 

 ward to try and get my wind. This would have ruined all, 

 so, lowering the flag, I fired at the ancient bull and dropped 

 him. It was the cleanest dead shot I ever saw. A Dutch- 

 man, in describing a similar event, said that " the foot that 

 was in the air never came to the ground while there was 

 life." I gave the contents of the second barrel to another 

 bull ; but he went away gallantly after receiving the ball in 



