VAAL RHEBOK SHOOTING. 133 



nearly through the body, had run off at a tangent up 

 the neck nearly out at the skin on the ofF-side. The 

 bullet, hollowed at the top of the cone, had caused a 

 severe tearing wound, and the wonder seemed how 

 the antelope could have moved at all after such a 

 shock. To people accustomed to African shooting, 

 however, the extraordinary vitality of the antelope 

 tribe, and, indeed, of every kind of game, is familiar ; 

 and even when hit in apparently a vital spot, the 

 game will over and over again escape from the 

 hunter. One reason for this, as it seems to me, is 

 that in these parched and rugged wastes Nature 

 has provided an increased store of strength and 

 endurance, to enable her offspring to contend with 

 the many difficulties and dangers that they have 

 to undergo, whether they be attributable to waterless 

 deserts, fierce animals, or the merciless Bushmen, 

 Hottentots, and Kaffirs, who, through unknown 

 ages, have preyed upon the game that surrounded 

 them. 



We were now in the centre of the wildest part of 

 these mountains, and as the beauty of the prospect 

 around could scarcely be improved upon, I rested 

 a short while for lunch — some biltong and biscuit, 

 and a mouthful of Cango brandy. While we rested, 

 Igneese gralloched the rhebok, and I had time to 

 notice its proportions. The vaal, or grey rhebok 

 {Redunca capreola or Pelea capreola), Peeli of the 

 Bechuanas and Kaffirs, is, as its name indicates, of 

 a grey colour. It varies considerably from the rooi or 

 red rhebok, which is also found in these mountains 

 and in other grassy localities nearer the coast line, 

 more especially towards the eastern part of the 

 Colony. It stands at the shoulder some two feet six 



