240 A Breath from the Veldt 



During the ensuing week we had nothing but hard work and disappointment. 

 The chief, who came with us, took us to several pans away to the north-west 

 of M'Pape's Mountain, but we saw nothing during all this time but a herd of 

 Burchell's zebras, one of which Van Staden killed, and a big herd of sable 

 antelopes, at which we never got a shot. At the farthest point we reached we 

 found that two giraffes and several troops of blue wildebeest had been drinking 

 there, and though I was not very keen to shoot one of the former, I should 

 have liked to see them. Brenke's poor condition indeed was against my getting 

 within shooting distance ; for that day at the roan antelopes had made a lot of 

 difference in his appearance. We therefore returned to the spruit where we 

 had killed the reedbucks, and as there seemed to have been some little game 

 about, we decided to remain a day or two and hunt. This was very fortunate, 

 for after a brief rest I got another good koodoo bull. Van Staden and I were 

 returning one evening when this bit of luck came in my way. Suddenly across 

 our front galloped a fine koodoo bull and three pallah ewes. I lost no time in 

 jumping on Brenke and commencing the chase, for it was a good open country 

 and excellent going ; and after going about a mile the koodoo, who was either 

 out of condition or too old for a long gallop, caved in ; and getting right up to 

 him I gave him a shot at close quarters that finally settled his career. He was 

 a grand old fellow, with a beautiful twist in his horns, and amply compensated 

 for the disappointment of the previous week. 



Our donkeys now showed unmistakable signs of overwork, so we deter- 

 mined to press on to the Lundi, where we could give them a good rest while 

 looking for the rhinoceros and other game. Accordingly we made another 

 start eastwards into the open, flat, waterless country before us. During the 

 morning I searched by myself for a troop of waterbuck that I had seen the 

 previous week, while the old man went off to reconnoitre the country ahead and 

 look for elands, of which there was fresh spoor. In passing through some bush 

 I came on a fine troop of about twenty, all ewes except an old ram, who, unfor- 

 tunately, stood so badly that I could not get at him till the herd had seen me 

 and had run some distance. Presently, however, while sitting with my back to 

 a tree, I had a good steady shot at him at about 100 yards, as he appeared on 

 the sky-line ; but, though hit, he went off with the rest, and as the grass was 

 long, I searched for more than an hour without success ; then back to the camp, 

 where I found Oom frying some koodoo for his mid-day meal, and alternately 

 cursing the donkeys and the country ahead. He came with me, however, to 

 the spot where I had fired, and at once found blood, and the correct spoor. 



