A RECORD OF SHAMEFUL SLAUGHTER. 



that direction, but after working quietly 

 ahead 300 or 400 yards and not seeing either 

 buck or does I told him to climb a tree and 

 look around. He did so, but could see no 

 more than we had seen on the ground. I 

 knew it would be useless to try to locate 

 these clever animals, as they were prob- 

 ably up to our game ; so Ave continued our 

 way with the hope of better luck the next 

 time. 



We had approached a small, marshy clear- 

 ing and were going to cross it when a 

 large reed buck jumped out of a bunch of 

 grass, giving me a running shot, which 

 brought him down, the ball hitting him in 

 the neck, nearly severing the head from 

 the body. His horns were large and had 

 a graceful forward curve. 



I cut the remaining shreds of flesh in 

 the neck and tied the head to my belt. Tell- 

 ing the porters to take the meat and wait 

 for me where a small stream emerged 

 from the jungle, I continued my hunt, but 

 being unable to see the object of my search 

 T was nearing the plain with the intention 

 of returning to camp when I saw a full 

 grown ant hill in my way, so I climbed to 

 the top of it to look around. Only those 

 who have experienced the sensation of 

 having a magnificent buck appear when 

 they have almost given up the hunt can 

 realize my feelings as I looked ahead and 

 saw a water buck with a splendid pair of 

 horns quietly grazing at the edge of the 

 plain. 



Dropping back down the side of the 

 ant hill a few feet I drew the rifle up, but 

 the buck stepped forward at that moment 

 and a bush covered his shoulder. I risked 

 a shot, however, and was disappointed to 

 see him leap out of sight behind the brush. 



I climbed down as fast as possible, hast- 

 ened to the plain, and saw the buck and 

 6 does running along close to the jungle. 

 I stepped behind a bush and watched until 

 they arrived at the top of a hill a mile 

 away, where they stopped. After looking 

 around a while they continued their way, 

 walking slowly and feeding as they went. 



I wanted that pair of horns and I knew 

 that if the animals kept on in the direction 

 they were going I stood a good show of get- 

 ting them, for the edge of the jungle ran in 

 a long curve out to a point a little more 

 than 2 miles from where I was standing. 

 About 200 yards out from the jungle to my 

 left was an almost dry bed of a small 

 stream with banks 4 to 8 feet high. This 

 stream ran directly to the point of 

 the jungle where the buck was going, 

 so working over slowly I reached the 

 jungle and made my way by running 

 when I could and walking where the 

 footing was bad until I reached a place 

 from which it was possible to come up op- 

 posite the buck. Scrambling up the bank 

 of the creek I made a dash of a hundred 

 yards or so to the brush and sat down, 

 for 2 miles' run and walk through mud and 

 water had about played me out. 



After resting a few minutes I got up with 

 the intention of going around the point to 

 see what had become of Mr. Buck, but 

 changed my mind as a branch cracked 

 across from me. It was not more than 75 

 feet from where I was to the open plain 

 on the other side, but the jungle was so 

 thick that I could see but a few feet 

 through it. 



I sat still fully half an hour and my legs 

 began to cramp, so I got up to stretch my- 

 self. Before I was on my feet the water 



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