The Cape Hartebeest 155 



escape without the least apparent inconvenience. One of them was, 

 indeed, wounded and turned out of the troop, but it, too, succeeded for 

 the time in making good its retreat. 



On another occasion, upon a wide, open plain in the Kalahari country, 

 not far from the desert pool of Maqua, I tested the speed and staying 

 powers of a good hunting horse against some troops of these antelopes, and 

 again with the result of the utter discomfiture of the horse and the easy 

 escape of the hartebeests. If, indeed, the downfall of these animals 

 depended upon their chase on horseback in fairly open country, few heads 

 would fall to the hunter's rifle. 



But the hartebeest, although possessed of such fleetness and endurance, 

 has its weak side. It has, like many other antelopes, great curiosity, and, 

 even when hunted, a troop of these animals will, if not pushed too hard, 

 wheel round suddenly and halt for a few moments to take stock of their 

 pursuers. At such a moment, if the hunter is not too far behind, he can 

 by means of a spurt get a fairly steady shot at two or three hundred yards' 

 distance. Again, the troop may be readily turned, like wildebeest and other 

 game, by firing a bullet or two so as to strike up the sand in front of them. 

 Occasionally, too, if the leader of the troop can be killed or wounded and 

 turned out from its fellows, the rest of the herd will become bewildered, 

 and will run hither and thither, so that the hunter may obtain a fair shot or 

 two. In the pleasant open forest country of much of Bechuanaland these 

 animals, if carefully spoored and approached with caution, may be found 

 resting, and comparatively easy shots are sometimes obtained. And in 

 this country, too, the mounted man, hidden by the giraffe-acacia groves, 

 and knowing that the game will almost invariably make up wind, is enabled 

 to cut off corners and come up again with the troop even when running. 

 I have myself cut a troop completely in half in this way, and seen the 

 hartebeests standing at 150 yards' distance, for a few moments completely 

 bewildered, thus affording a steady shot. Still, when all is said and done, 



