— Seah 
16 A LION AND GEMS-BOK. 
fore-legs in the attitude of attack ; but, on my firing 
again, it fell dead. As soon as Jacobs came up, he 
began to examine a gland in the iront of the throat 
about the size of an egg, by which he was enabled 
to judge of the condition of the animal, the flesh 
being considered superior to that of any other ante- 
lope. Soon after it was slain we observed a flight of 
vultures hovering over the spot, a circumstance the 
more remarkable as the plain was very extensive, and 
previously to my shooting the animal, not a bird was 
to be seen in the spacious and cloudless sky. 
The son of a Boor, who accompanied me, stated 
that he once had a narrow escape from a gems-bok, 
which he was pursuing after he had wounded it: 
the enraged animal rushed towards him, and thrust 
its horns into the body of his horse, throwing him off 
with considerable violence. Klaas, one of my Hot- 
tentot servants, assured me that he once saw the car- 
eases of a lion and gems-bok, near the banks of the 
Gamka River, which appeared to have engaged each 
other in mortal combat. Jacobs also stated that an 
old lion would never offer to attack the gems-bok, and 
that he had himself witnessed this fact on several 
occasions. f 
The thermometer was now at 101°, and we be- 
gan to experience the want of water. Our people 
eagerly followed the tracks of wild animals, under 
the impression that they would lead to a spring, but 
were disappointed in their expectations, all the pools 
