A Breath from the Veldt 87 



May) Hert (who always carried his rifle) and I were working some thick bush 

 about three days south of the Oliphants River when we came across a fair 

 amount of fresh pallah spoor as well as that of koodoo, so we naturally expected 

 to come upon some of the former animals ; and shortly afterwards, as we were 

 passing through some open forest of roibosjes (red bush), we came upon a troop 

 of about fifteen pallah ewes, which stopped feeding and raised their heads as we 

 approached to within loo yards of them. Hert dismounted and fired at a big 

 ewe on the right of the troop, and we saw at once that she was well hit, though 

 it was some minutes before I discovered her lying dead under a tree. 



The pallah {Alpyceros melampus) is one of the most beautiful, and certainly 

 the most graceful of the African antelopes. To see a big troop of these bucks 

 galloping through the sunlit glades of a tropical forest is indeed a pleasure to 

 the artist as well as to the sportsman. Being of an unsuspicious nature, when 

 not continually persecuted they are commonly easy to get at, and may be found 

 either single or in large troops in the vicinity of the larger South African 

 streams. Even to-day they are fairly plentiful from the southern bank of the 

 Limpopo to the Zambesi, where they are said by the hunters to be the 

 commonest species of buck. The tameness of the animal too becomes far more 

 marked with its northward range. When found in the Transvaal, where it 

 exists only in scattered troops, is is far more shy and difficult to shoot, generally 

 making off at the first approach of danger, without offering the chance of a 

 shot. 



The pallah loves the vicinity of big rivers, and is seldom met with in large 

 troops far from them, and in the early morning and late evening the hunter is 

 fairly sure of seeing one or more herds of these bucks when in search of larger 

 game. By the Nuanetsi I found it fairly common, and hardly a day passed 

 without seeing one or more. At times they would stand or move tamely about, 

 as if they understood that one's hostile attentions were directed against larger 

 creatures than themselves. Indeed, when not often shot at they are easy 

 enough to kill, as of all the bucks they seem most loath to take definite alarm, 

 generally running only a short distance after the first shot and standing to look 

 back, thus giving the hunter several good chances in succession. When in 

 troops they will generally be found to consist of fifteen to forty ewes and one 

 old ram, who nearly always takes up a position in the rear of the herd when 

 retreating, the herd being always led by an old and experienced ewe, who may 

 be seen picking her way cautiously with cocked ears, as if she knew the safety 

 of her companions depended on her judgment and discretion. In my sketch of 



