CH. XII] A GIRAFFE CHASE 329 
the herd got under way he wounded the big bull. 
Away went the tall creatures, their tails twisting and 
curling, as they cantered along over the rough veldt 
and among the thorn bushes, at that gait of theirs 
which looks so leisurely and which yet enables them to 
cover so much ground. After them we tore, Kermit 
and Tarlton in the lead ; and a fine chase we had. It 
was not until we had gone two or three miles that the 
bull lagged behind the herd. I was riding the tranquil 
sorrel, not a speedy horse, and by this time my weight 
was telling on him. Kermit and his horse had already 
turned a somersault, having gone into an ant-bear hole, 
which the tall grass concealed; but they were up and 
off in an instant. All Tranquillity’s enthusiasm had 
vanished, and only by constant thumping with heels 
and gun butt could I keep him at a slow hand gallop, 
and in sight of the leaders. We came to a slight rise, 
where the rank grass grew high and thick ; and Tran¬ 
quillity put both his fore-legs into an ant-bear hole, and 
with obvious relief rolled gently over on his side. It 
was not really a tumble ; he hailed the ant-bear burrow 
as offering a way out of a chase in which he had grown 
to take less than no interest. Besides, he really was 
winded, and when we got up I could barely get him 
into a canter; and I saw no more of the run. Mean¬ 
while Kermit and Tarlton raced alongside the wounded 
bull, one on each flank, and started him toward camp, 
which was about five miles from where the hunt began. 
Two or three times he came to a standstill, and turned 
first toward one and then toward the other of his 
pursuers, almost as if he meditated a charge; but they 
shouted at him and he resumed his flight. They 
brought him within three hundred yards of camp, and 
then Kermit leaped off and finished him. 
