THE WATERBUCK 
129 
close behind, there burst forth a wild onslaught of yelling 
Shilluks, bounding past us over bush and brake. They 
were our friends of the morning! We thought to have 
given them the slip; as a matter of fact they, scenting 
meat, had followed us unseen the whole day! But what 
a nice sense of feeling those stark savages had revealed. 
Once they realised that their personal company was not 
acceptable, they had kept absolutely out of sight till they 
thought they could render us a service. 
Disabled as he was, the stricken bull had nearly 200 
yards’ start and, terror lending wings to his heels, got 
away through the bush at a speed which, one might 
reckon, would far outdistance any human pursuer. But 
these stalwart savages pressed him hard from the start— 
held him for a long mile, possibly more—and finally killed 
him with the spear. The wounded beast had the speed ; 
the savages the sleuth. With amazing skill they kept 
heading the quarry from one wing of flying spearmen 
right on to another which lay concealed. A wilder scene 
I never witnessed—both the actual chase and subsequent 
division of the spoils, an operation which evoked furious 
quarrels among the Shilluks themselves. 
It is right to add that these savages thoroughly 
recognised the principle of “ First blood.” On our reach¬ 
ing the kill, the whole crowd sat panting like a pack of 
wild hounds around the victim, but none touched the meat 
till we gave the word. 
Upon close examination the dead beast corresponded 
exactly with our impressions at the distant view. The 
colour was uniformly pale rufous, extending to the 
face, which was entirely devoid of the dark features 
that characterise the iron-grey type of waterbuck. A 
conspicuous white gorget encircled the throat, but there 
was no sign of white on the fetlocks. The long shaggy 
hair of the neck stood out erect, forming a ruff; but that 
feature is common to all the rough-haired antelopes 
though never shown in mounted specimens, in which it 
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