282 A Breath from the Veldt 



pace — that is to say, over rough ground — while on smooth, good-going veldt, 

 should the hunter be lucky enough to encounter a troop, he w^ill find that for 

 a mile or so they can go it right handsomely, malgre their short legs and heavy 

 bodies. The horns of a ram in his prime are very fine, measuring on an 

 average about 27 inches ; they are graceful in shape, light in colour, and 

 beautifully annulated. I fancy that after a certain age the buck rubs and 

 wears his horns to a very great extent, as the majority of old rams one sees 

 have very short, thick, stunted horns. The best heads are always those that 

 are only just adult, and whose bases are still slightly soft and full of blood. 



While sitting at breakfast the following morning I saw some illustrations 

 of ant history that would have delighted the heart of Sir John Lubbock. One 

 of the Randsbergs had kindly given me a large slab of hippopotamus flank, 

 the fat of which is quite delicious ; but a little of it goes a long way, and you 

 can only eat the inside portion, which is soft and delicate. I had thrown away 

 a large piece, and was lazily smoking my pipe and thinking over the events of 

 the previous days, when I noticed that the fat I had discarded was being 

 gradually covered by small red ants about the size of a pin's head ; so I 

 determined to watch them. And now I observed six great black ants — the 

 largest I have ever seen — walking solemnly round and round the fat, and 

 stopping every minute, apparently to pick up something and rub their fore- 

 legs together. At first I thought they were consuming the small drippings 

 that had come from the pot, but on closer inspection I found that they were 

 by no means so innocently employed. In fact, they were catching and gobbling 

 up their small red confreres, who in turn inflicted upon them all the damage 

 they could possibly commit. It was a most interesting sight, and the old man. 

 Prince, and I lay on the ground and watched the performance for half an hour. 



As a rule, whenever a black ant seized a red one, and — holding it in his 

 fore-legs across his mouth — commenced tearing it to pieces with his powerful 

 nippers, he was immediately attacked on all sides by the victim's friends. 

 Their attack was always on the two fore-legs and the end of what is known 

 as the metathorax ; and the way those plucky little fellows went for the giant 

 was really splendid. Three or four at a time would fasten on his fore-legs and 

 bite so furiously that you could see their little bodies strain with the effort. 

 If the big ant had his mouth full, all he could do was to rub his legs together, 

 and try to force his tormentors off by means of his other legs. Then, or 

 whenever the little ants failed to release their comrade, they attacked and bit 

 the enemy's tail, which was evidently his most tender part ; and many a time 



