114 



ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



dog, Boxer, my best, at his heels. I then galloped 

 down the river side at top speed to meet him, but was 

 too late : I, however, fired a long shot to encourage 

 Boxer. Next moment, in ascending the opposite bank of 

 the Ngotwani, my horse fell and rolled down the bank 

 very nearly on the top of me One of the barrels of my 

 favorite ball gun was thereby stove, by coming in vio- 

 lent contact with a piece of rock. Jock, on gaining his 

 legs, declined being caught, and made off for camp, fol- 

 lowed by my after-rider : Alert at this moment came 

 up to me, having eight or ten inches of the skin of his 

 breast and fore-arm ripped clean up by the water-buck. 

 I now fancied that I had lost him, but a little after 1 

 heard Boxer's voice coming down the river side with 

 the buck, having once more turned him. I ran up the 

 bank of the Ngotwani at my best pace to meet thern, 

 and found the water-buck at bay in a deep pool of wa- 

 ter, surrounded by high banks of granite rock. He 

 would not stand at bay, but .swam through the deep 

 water and broke bay on the opposite side. Boxer, how- 

 ever, held on, and followed him up the river, and once 

 more turned him to this pool. I met them coming 

 down the water-course, and sent a ball into the buck's 

 throat, which made blood flow freely from his mouth. 

 He held stoutly on, however, and plunged into the deep 

 pool, there standing at bay under a granite rook. I 

 then headed him, and from above put a bullet between 

 his two shoulder blades, which dropped him dead on 

 the spot. He died as a water-buck ought, in the deep 

 water. My success with this noble and very beautiful 

 antelope gave me most sincere pleasure. 



I had now shot noble specimens of every sort of game 

 in South Africa, excepting a few small bucks common 

 in the colony, and the hippopotamus. Having contem- 



