158 



A Breath from the Veldt 



good or very bad ground, and it always heads right away with its mate from 

 the reeds, where it is generally found, to the sanctuary of the bush. Should 

 the bush not be thick it is not a difficult animal to run up to, as it tires almost 

 sooner than any of the species. Reedbucks, particularly the females, will lie 

 very close, like rabbits, and if suddenly alarmed they squat flat on the ground, 

 as I had one day a good opportunity for seeing. He, therefore, who desires 

 to shoot a couple of heads of this buck will often have to work hard for days 

 in the dry sluits, with both gun and rifle, even though the bucks be fairly 



THE REEDBUCK IN TWO ATTITUDES OF ALARM 



numerous. If found in a very large water-course, the reedbuck will often not 

 leave the open grass, but will run for half a mile or so and then stand and gaze 

 back at his pursuer. The sportsman should keep out of sight as much as 

 possible, and then he may probably be rewarded by seeing his game again 

 squat, when he can walk right up to him. The animal is, I fancy, fond of 

 feeding and moving about at night ; for at a point between the Nuanetsi and 

 Lundi rivers, at which I afterwards camped, hardly a day passed without 

 hearing the loud whistles of these bucks at all hours of the night as they 

 passed close to the waggon. 



At Gong we stayed for six days, while the Dutchmen were discussing the 



