WE SEE ORREBY BUCK 
145 
trict and atmosphere in which the battles were fought. It can 
be taken as accepted that the average practised hunter con¬ 
siders a two hundred yard range a certainty, three hundred yards 
quite possible, four hundred yards dubious, five hundred yards 
shaky, and anything beyond as a chance hit at the first shot, 
but distances up to four hundred yards well within the scope of 
possible at game the size of a sassaby or wildebeest if nearer 
approach is impracticable. 
To continue our story, there was great delight amongst the 
natives at the meat obtained, and we found no difficulty in 
effecting our start next morning, August 3rd. They preferred 
to transport our extra stuff by water in canoes; so, putting two 
of our hoys as guards, we started them off, first paying our last 
bearers with strips of cotton cloth and the angular green glass 
beads before mentioned, which they accepted with many expres¬ 
sions of satisfaction. We made nine and a half miles in a 
north-west by west direction, passing several herds of harte- 
beest and letzwee that seemed to take little notice of us beyond 
moving off about two hundred yards. The tsetse fly were 
really fearful in numbers on this march, attacking the bearers, 
who were obliged to carry branches wherewith to switch them 
off their naked backs. Hammar and I were delighted to see 
some orreby buck, the first we had observed since leaving 
Natal, who, with their peculiar jerky double leaps, graceful 
withal, landing on the hindlegs from the first jump to make 
another spring, reminded us of far-off scenes. Our own boys 
were fearfully lazy from over-eating, but they never worried or 
troubled us now about returning, as we should only have 
laughed at them if they had, knowing that their safety now 
was inseparably connected with our presence. Still we felt 
reproved for giving them the opportunity of over-feeding. 
We had made but three miles on August the 4th, when the 
new boys came up with the canoes and informed us that they 
must return, this being the end of their district. The headman, 
however, volunteered to remain with us until we were started 
again, and himself crossed over to the other side to call assist- 
K 
