HUGE HERDS OF GAME 
141 
hartebeest, numbering respectively twenty, twenty-five, 
seventy-five, and eighty-five. I had wished to bring a 
camel out with me, but that devil of a headman had for 
once overruled me, saying that, as the camel-mats were all 
wet through, they would give the animal a sore back. The 
result was, I could get nowhere near these huge herds. On 
topping a second rise, I beheld a herd of upwards of two 
hundred hartebeest, accompanied by about fifty ‘ owl ’ 
gazelle. Such a sight of game I had but dreamt of These 
‘ owl ’ gazelle were a great pest whilst we were stalking 
hartebeest, as they were invariably the first to start ofi‘, 
quickly followed by the larger game. Thus it happened in 
this case. Off* went the ' owl,’ hotly pursued by the harte- 
beest, The former galloped past me, and, seeing that the 
hartebeest were bent on following them, I ran as hard as I 
could to try and get within range. 
It was a truly magnificent sight to see those two hundred 
gigantic antelopes gallop past — a sight which will never 
fade from my memory. They were a long way out, but 
luck combined with skill struck one in the neck, and he fell 
almost head over heels, stone-dead. The hartebeest is 
difPerent from the oryx and ‘ owl,’ in that he never gives you 
a good second chance. When hartebeest cross you, and you 
fire, they invariably turn and gallop off away from you, 
presenting their haunches only, whereas the ' owl ’ and oryx 
still keep going in their original direction. Having skinned 
my prize, and taken the best of the meat for the men, I 
gave the rest to the multitude which followed. They fed 
upon what remained of the carcase, like vultures, and 
hacked and pulled away at it until nothing remained but a 
few blood-stains and the contents of the stomach to tell 
the tale of a kill. Lungs, stomach, and intestines were all 
greedily snatched up by these poor wretches, and as they 
walked along with grinning faces, one or two would be 
observed to munch away at the raw meat, unable to wait 
to appease their hunger. 
After this we encountered another large herd of harte- 
