68 SPORT AND TRAVEL PAPERS 



walking and the tracker, with the gazelle slung over his shoulder, 

 leading my horse. The heat of the day past, guinea-fowl had 

 left the shelter of their noonday retreat and were feeding in 

 flocks here and there ; we put up many sand-grouse, so very 

 difficult to see on the bare ground which they exactly resemble 

 in colour, and startled quail and florican out of the long, dry, 

 yellow grass ; but as we never carried a gun on these trips, fowl 

 were safe from us. Coming suddenly from behind a thick bush 

 upon a small dry river-bed with steep banks, I saw the head of 

 a nellut, surmounted by a splendid pair of horns, looking up 

 startled at the noise of our approach; but only for a moment, 

 for, seeing us, round he flew and rushed up the opposite bank, 

 never reaching the top, however, for a bullet in the shoulder 

 stopped him half-way. He was a very old gentleman indeed, to 

 the hunter's disgust without the promise of a particle of fat, 

 and covered with scars, for these bulls with their powerful and 

 sharply pointed horns are very quarrelsome, and fight terribly 

 among themselves. This is supposed to be one of the reasons 

 why so few bulls are seen in comparison with the number of 

 cows met with. The nellut * is probably the handsomest of the 

 antelope family, standing about thirteen hands high, of mouse- 

 grey colour with a long white stripe along the spine from head 

 to root of tail, from which stripe two or three others descend on 

 each side over the chest and flanks. The massive spiral horns 

 are very beautiful ; this pair measured 50 inches round the out- 

 side horn, 37 inches from head to tip straight, and 33 from point 

 to point, and was the largest I had the luck to bag. The cows 

 have no horns. We cut off the head and tied it on to my horse, 

 the remainder being left "till called for." Thus heavily laden 

 we soon afterwards arrived at our camp, after a very enjoyable 

 day in the jungle. 



* Koodoo. 



