March 13, 1909.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
409 
We saw several wart hogs, but they were far 
out on an open plain and it was impossible to 
get near them. An African pig or wart hog 
when disturbed goes to earth like an English 
rabbit. They have the most marvelous burrows, 
large of course, and with a perfect system of 
windows or ventilation holes, and never, when 
alarmed, do they enter their burrows head first, 
but tail first. This is an extraordinary thing, 
but true. On our way home we heard a regular 
fusillade of rifle shots 
and remarked that evi¬ 
dently the Count had 
run up against a good 
herd of something. 
About a mile from camp 
we saw two waterbuck 
rams, an easy shot. The 
Colonel fired, with no 
result. How he missed 
at that distance I can¬ 
not imagine, and the 
funny thing is that 
shortly afterward he 
killed an oribi, a good 
200 yards off, and an 
oribi is not a very large 
mark. I saw him miss 
large buck again, but 
with pig or small buck 
he seemed certain. I 
put it down to excite¬ 
ment. 
On our arrival at 
camp we found Lady F. 
and the Count already 
there; the latter most 
excited, having killed 
two wildebeeste. and he 
could say nothing but 
vildbeast. The Dutch¬ 
man told me he blazed 
away at them as long 
as they were in sight. 
Two wildebeeste, one 
hartebeeste and an oribi 
, were not a bad start. 
We celebrated it by a 
dinner and such a din¬ 
ner ! Potted delicacies 
from Piccadilly, venison, 
stewed fruits, brandy 
peaches, washed down 
with champagne and' 
afterward coffee and 
liquers. 
The Colonel was very 
keen on getting a sable 
bull. Now there was one herd which were 
generally to be found about five miles from 
camp in which was an exceptionally fine bull. 
I had shot at him once and missed him, but he 
was facing me and about 300 yards off when 
I fired, but that did not help matters. I had 
missed him and I was keeping him in my mind 
for a future occasion. I quite hoped that we 
should not run across him to-day or while the 
Colonel was my guest. However, vain is the 
hope of mortal man; before going far we ran 
right in among a large herd of sable, about 
forty cows and calves and several bulls, and 
my bull, standing broadside on not more than 
seventy-five yards off. Colonel F. did not see 
him at the moment and was preparing to shoot 
at another when my conscience pricked me and 
I pointed him out. Bang! he stumbled forward 
a few steps and over he went. The cows did 
not seem to take any notice of the shot, and not 
till we came out in the open did they move off. 
He was a beauty, and as I looked down at 
him I was envious and was half sorry that we 
had happened to strike that bunch, but only 
for a moment, however. F. was so pleased that 
his pleasure was contagious and I became quite 
A MONTANA RIVER SCENE. 
■Norlli Fork of the Belly River, and the Shepherd Glacier. 
enthusiastic myself. Fifty and one-half inches 
round the bend of his horn. It is not a record 
I know, but I have never killed as large a one 
and I have shot several, and this last time when 
I was home in the old country I saw the head 
hanging in Colonel F.’s front hall, as fine a 
trophy as a man ever wished to see. This bull 
was a small bodied one, but fat and in his 
prime. 
On our way home we came across the re¬ 
mains of a sable cow which had been freshly 
killed by lions, but as the moon got up very 
late we decided that it was not worth while to 
watch. 
The Colonel got an oribi close to camp, and 
as it was quite early when we got back, we de¬ 
cided to have forty winks and try again in the 
evening, when F. was again successful, bagging 
a reed buck. The Count shot a waterbuck. 
Lions were again very close around the camp 
during the night, and if made Kate extremely 
nervous in her little grass hut. 
The following day was a day of mishaps. 
First, we ran across some pigs, one of which 
the Colonel shot. It turned out to be a small 
sow, but they were a long way off, and it is 
extremely hard always 
to pick the best, and 
again after about an 
hour’s ride we saw six 
wildebeeste. Carefully 
stalking, we got to 
within 200 yards, but 
nearer it was impossible 
to get. The Colonel 
fired twice and missed, 
although they were easy 
shots. On we went 
again and were riding 
along carelessly, talk¬ 
ing in low tones, when 
he happened to say, 
“There’s one thing I 
should like to see and 
that is a good bull 
eland.” Raising my 
eyes I saw one stand¬ 
ing on the edge of the 
timber, and I answered, 
“There you are; right 
in front of you.” What 
got into his head, good¬ 
ness only knows. He 
never attempted to get 
off and shoot, but sim¬ 
ply jammed his spurs 
into his pony’s sides and 
galloped toward it. In 
an open country it is an 
easy matter to run down 
an eland on any sort of 
a decent horse. They 
are so large and clumsy 
that once get them out 
of their trot into a lope 
or canter and they are 
done, and a horse can 
go right round then?,, 
but in timber it is of 
course impossible to ride 
so fast and is danger¬ 
ous, as you risk hit¬ 
ting against a tree or 
projecting branch in 
■your hurry. The eland turned immediately intCk 
the timber, the Colonel following as hard as 
he could gallop. I followed on at a walk, easily 
keeping the spoor of the horse. 
An hour passed and another and then I began 
to get nervous, as it was not long before dark¬ 
ness would be on us, and the Colonel was 
strange and would have no earthly chance of 
finding his way back in the dark, and sleeping 
out would be to him a very uncomfortable experi¬ 
ence, not unattended with danger. I was in a 
sense responsible to Lady F. On I went, but 
at length I saw by the spoor that his horse had 
come to a walk and on topping another rise I 
was overjoyed to see him returning. Now there 
are many fresh comers, who, if in his place,. 
