A Breath from the Veldt 33 



about in small parties about a mile from the road. When a large number of 

 these had been passed a halt was called and the plan of campaign laid out by 

 Dr. Maloney, who got up in his cart and gave us a lecture, the humour of 

 which was characteristic of a son of that " little grane isle in the say." Our 

 plan was then fixed to keep our line of carts at intervals of 1700 yards apart, 

 and to work down wind towards the mountains in front of us, at the foot of 

 which was Mr. Weber's farm, where we were to pass the night. Anxious that 

 I should see the best of the sport, the Doctor kindly took me in his cart and 

 gave me every assistance in his power. We had also with us two fine grey- 

 hounds, ready for a course in case we should wound a buck. Three-quarters of 

 an hour elapsed before the line was formed ; then off we went, trotting slowly 

 over the veldt, and keeping our gigantic line as accurate as possible. As, owing 

 to the refraction of the atmosphere, one could hardly see more than two carts 

 on either side, we had necessarily to trust a good deal to guesswork as to our 

 relative distances when once the shooting began ; and we were fairly within 

 reach of the springbuck. They were apparently several hundreds in number, 

 and were beginning to trek backwards and forwards uneasily, as if endeavouring 

 to ascertain at which point they could circumvent the approaching enemies, and 

 that not being at once apparent, they commenced retreating slowly. Small 

 troops here and there stopped and waited till the carts had approached within 

 four or five hundred yards, in the hope of breaking past between two of the 

 advancing points. 



This is where the shooting comes in, and where the sportsman must exercise 

 his judgment and discretion in endeavouring to stop the bucks wishing to retire, 

 at such a range that they can be got to stand and offer a fair chance, without 

 frightening them by too close an approach ; otherwise they dash back in big 

 troops, giving only difficult running shots which are not scored once in a 

 hundred cartridges, unless the shooter happens to be very close to the animals, 

 and they are running straight away from him. The line was fairly well 

 kept for about two hours ; and so far as we could gather from the fusilade going 

 on to right and left of us, every one was getting his fair share of the shoot- 

 ing. Maloney and I were taking our shots alternately ; but as he was very 

 anxious that I should get a buck on my first day, I am afraid 1 had rather the 

 best of the shooting. After about twenty-five shots I wounded an old ram, 

 which we followed back for about a mile and eventually lost. In this way we 

 got so much out of the line that it was some time before we could again pick 

 up our places in the alignment. So the sport went on without any luck till the 



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