Swayne's Hartebeest 145 



a few herds of oryx and Scemmerring's gazelles. These plains were dotted 

 with red ant-hills some 20 to 25 feet high, and for miles and miles — to 

 the far horizon — nothing would meet the eye but the grayish -green, 

 undulating plain, the immense herds of dark red hartebeests, or other game, 

 and the red spires of the ant-hills. 



Though, after a few years of ceaseless persecution, the game may have 

 almost left these plains at the present time, yet, at the right season, good 

 sport could no doubt be still found with these fine antelopes. And though 

 it is impossible to define their range to the south and east, there are most 

 probably many great plains in those directions still awaiting exploration 

 which contain hartebeests ; if they do, the same scene will meet the eyes 

 of the lucky explorer as that which used to be witnessed on the Marar 

 prairie in the years 1890-93. 



A herd of hartebeests, if in little-explored country, will usually allow 

 the hunter to approach to within 200 yards before going off at a 

 gallop. They are clumsy to look at, but very fast ; for this is well 

 known to be one of the fastest, and probably the most enduring of all 

 antelopes. 



The old bulls of a herd can be distinguished by their dark colour and 

 thick horns as compared with the cows. 



The best way to make a creditable bag of hartebeests is to pick out the 

 single bulls, which are to be seen grazing apart from the herds ; they are 

 not so shy as the herd animals, carry good horns, and will not be mistaken 

 for cows. 



Where hartebeests have been much disturbed it will probably be 

 difficult to get shots at under 300 or 400 yards. The Lee-Metford rifle is 

 very accurate at these distances, and each miss throws up a puff of red dust 

 from the ground, thereby assisting to correct the aim ; therefore, to fire at a 

 single bull at such a range cannot be called unsportsmanlike, provided no 

 shots are fired at random into a herd. If the distance is considerable a 



