BIG GAME 
55 
extermination of this the most interesting representative of the 
antelope group. Shy and alert, this curious buck is difficult 
of approach. Lolling and ruminating in deep water only in 
the most secluded reed-bound pools, occasionally showing its 
beautiful white-tipped horns as it elevates its nostrils from 
below to breathe, it dives away, on the faintest suspicious sound, 
to hide under or in the masses of floating reeds, where it is 
impossible to detect or follow it, thus truly supporting the 
doubt whether one is really dealing with an antelope. Even 
when the river rises very high, and other game is driven forth 
from the seclusion of the reeds to seek firm footing on higher 
ground, the situtunga experiences no alteration in its neces¬ 
sities, for the masses of floating reeds only rise and fall with the 
watermark. It is only by great perseverance and unusual luck 
that the hunter can gratify his wish to number the graceful 
situtunga amongst his other trophies. The skin is somewhat 
thinly covered with long, coarse, greyish-brown hair. 
That night, as we camped on the sandy grass-grown banks 
of the Chobe beneath a large tree, the air was rent by the 
hoarse but musical bellowing of hippopotami, in cadence not 
unlike that of a bull, with three or four short grunts in a deep 
bass note as a final. 
Old Jan regaled us with many a hunting yarn at the fireside 
during the long evenings, and, knowing his history, I was able 
to confirm the African saying that 'Imagination is not needed 
to tell a tale of the African wilds.’ Jan told us of a noble dog 
of the boar-hound breed that had accompanied him in many 
a hard battle with big game, and how gallantly the faithful 
animal behaved in times of danger. He was out one day on the 
look-out for game, and soon, judging by the excited manner of 
the dog, was near something dangerous. The country was hilly, 
bushy, and stony, while grass of the up-country nature, long and 
wiry, covered the open spaces. Apparently the quarry lay in 
a hollow close by, and Jan, taking up a prominent position, 
urged his dog into the thicket, when with a discontented grunt 
a large lion appeared in the open for a moment, just sufficient 
