292 A Breath from the Veldt 



choice of colours for natural protection as in these two animals. A zebra or a 

 leopard standing or lying on the straw-coloured grass, and surrounded by 

 shadows and dark mimosas, is about as difficult an object for the hunter to 

 detect quickly as any I know. As this was the only leopard I have ever seen 

 at large, I need hardly trouble my readers with any remarks on the habits of 

 the beast. 



Previous to our departure for the " fly," Oom Roelef and I made several 

 attempts to discover a certain half-dry watercourse by which a year ago my 

 companion had found numerous antelope, both sable and roan. But some- 

 how or other he missed his line this year, and we saw only one old sable bull, 

 which was evidently not near this sluit, though it must have watered there 

 regularly. Two days before our return, however, Tace, who had been hunting 

 some eight miles eastward, rediscovered the sluit, in which there was a little 

 water, and along its margin much fresh spoor of roan antelope. I was feeling 

 rather seedy with the premonitory headache of a fever attack, and ought to 

 have lain by for a day ; but as our time was getting short I determined to lose 

 no opportunity for obtaining a roan bull— an animal I much wished to possess. 

 So, under the guidance of Tace, we set ofi^ at daybreak, bent on a good hunt for 

 the big antelopes ; and as our adventures, with its varying successes and disap- 

 pointments, were characteristic of what may be called a regular hunter's day, I 

 will try to describe some of its incidents in detail. 



We crossed the river as the sun was rising, disturbing a mass of vultures at 

 their bathing pool ; and, leading our horses up the steep bank on the farther 

 side, soon left the river and its great trees, under which were the dried wallows 

 of the bufi^aloes and wart-hogs. The first to attract our attention was a lot of 

 baboons, which quickly fled from us ; then came an old wart-hog sow, who 

 stood and looked at us from the shade of a spreading mimosa ; and later on a 

 beautiful grysbuck made its appearance. The little antelope was climbing 

 down the side of an old sluit, and against the dark background it was difficult 

 to see to what sex it belonged. However, on my dismounting to take the shot, 

 some movement on the part of the horses attracted its attention, and it quickly 

 disappeared. After this a ride of about three hours brought us to the high 

 bank of a watercourse said by Tace to lead eventually to the ground we were 

 making for, when, on looking upwards, I saw four rhinoceros birds flying to 

 our right, and converging in their descent towards some common object. I 

 was about to remark upon this, when Tace, who was leading, stopped his 

 horse, and saying quietly " Zwart-vit-pens " (sable antelope), slid from the 



