THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
straight horns come up through my horse’s tail. Still, even a rat will turn 
when cornered, and elands are really about the most inoffensive of all 
wild animals. Although it is so very easy to gallop down elands in open 
country, it must not be thought that these animals cannot run. For a mile 
they can gallop at a very great pace, and individual cows will keep up this 
speed for a much longer distance. When excessively fat, of course, elands 
soon tire, but, speaking generally, they run much better when in good 
condition than when they have become thin towards the end of the dry 
season. In bush or fairly thick forest, or broken hilly country, it will take 
a very good horse to keep near an eland, and to gallop down one of these 
animals under such conditions is no easy task. Although such large animals 
elands have always seemed to me to be less tenacious of life than all other 
African antelopes. At any rate, any of the modern small-bore rifles are 
quite powerful enough to be confidently used in their pursuit. 
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