116 THE ROAN ANTELOPE 



raphias and wild date-palms. Here again the 

 roan paused to consider their position, and I 

 slipped along the brink of the stream and under 

 cover of its high, reed-crowned banks, one eye 

 on the wind and the other on the point from 

 which it would, I thought, be possible to get a 

 shot. On I went carefully from boulder to 

 boulder, and at length reached a spot where I 

 fancied I could reconnoitre unseen. I pushed my 

 way to the top of the bank, to find — ^they had 

 gone again. I whistled for my hunters, feeling 

 now thoroughly aroused. Had I to follow all day 

 and all the next, I was fully determined one of 

 those bulls should be mine. I will not weary the 

 reader with a detailed narrative of what I ex- 

 perienced thereafter; suffice it to say that six 

 times we came up to that herd of roan, and six 

 times they broke before I could get within range. 

 Occasionally we sighted other game, but never 

 wavered. I believe my hunters felt quite as 

 savage as I did; for although they would point 

 out such other animals as we passed, it was always 

 with an air of detachment which clearly indicated 

 that we were in nowise concerned with aught but 

 the elusive roan. 



At length my hour came. A small forest 

 clearing surrounded by bamboo thickets was un- 

 advisedly chosen by the harassed herd for a few 

 moments' repose, and they halted on the edge of 

 it, oblivious of the fact that a bamboo-covered 

 ant-heap affords the most perfect imaginable 

 cover. It was a tame conclusion to a day of 

 unheard-of difficulties and disappointments. 



