April 3, 1909.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
529 
stride huge fallen tree trunks, which I found 
it hard to mount with a ten-pound load to his 
hundredweight. We got trout enough and had 
a rare excursion into wonderland. True, the 
rain wet us to the skin twice, but we were 
neither salt nor sugar, and we dried out, once 
at an ideal camp which Ned had selected and 
built for the owner, who graciously gave shel¬ 
ter, warmth and food to my guide, his son and 
me, a stranger, for Ned is a privileged visitor 
there. A born woodsman, his good wife told 
me he is under a roof but a very few days 
when, “Oh, for the woods again,” outdoors not 
indoors for him, and his son is a chip of the 
old block. 
All things must end and so came to an end 
my outing and back to New York via Yarmouth 
and Boston. ' A prospecting trip of two weeks 
had stretched to five, there was not a dollar of 
M y Dutchmen friends told me that in this 
neighborhood they had come across 
more large herds of sable and roan 
antelope than they had seen in any other part 
of the country, and that among these were some 
especially fine bulls. I have a weakness for 
sable antelope and therefore made my camp 
comfortable, intending to remain there a few 
days. There were plenty of large shade trees 
and it was a pleasant spot. 
I was quite sorry to say good-bye to my two 
friends the following morning, and the dogs 
did not at all relish leaving me. I impressed 
on the Boers the necessity of keeping them tied 
up for at least two or three days, as I was cer¬ 
tain they would try to come back. After a while 
I told the boy to saddle up my horse, and in¬ 
tended going alone, but the old pointer dog 
looked at me with such beseeching eyes that I 
gave in and let him follow, though when not 
led on a leash he was something of a nuisance, 
as nothing would keep him from running in. 
He was a very cunning old dog and knew the 
different kinds of buck as well as I did. A 
wounded hartebeeste or wildebeeste or any ordi¬ 
nary kind of buck he would pull down in very 
short order, but he had a wholesome regard for 
sable or roan and would not attempt to take 
any liberties with these, however much I set 
him on. Both my horses were of course trained 
to stand fire and I could leave them anywhere 
with the reins hanging down, and they would 
stand for a day in the same place. 
I had been traveling two hours when I saw 
a large herd of sable, some thirty of them feed¬ 
ing on the open vlei and the remainder scat¬ 
tered about in the timber. I slipped off my 
horse and waited, when about twenty more 
came out of timber, feeding and playing about, 
and I was enabled to have a good look at them. 
There were only two bulls worth considering; 
business in it, but what a time; cheap at any 
price. 
This is not an advertisement for anyone, but 
I cheerfully and for the good of the fisher folks 
guild recommend the people I have mentioned 
who gave good service at reasonable price and 
served one in manly fashion and with civility, 
but without the servility which spoils any ser¬ 
vice. Much more could be told of the delight¬ 
ful people we met, of the sails on Gaspe Basin 
in company with the eminent jurist from New 
Jersey and his gracious sister and their friend, the 
equally eminent medical expert from New York. 
Then Dr. S. and Mac --- from Montreal and 
others, whose kindly company helped the trip— 
but these acquaintanceships are privileged com¬ 
munications, not for publication. One thing I 
will tell—they all vowed they would go again to 
Gaspe, and so shall I. 
one had a fair head and his horns very curved, 
but not very long; the other was a larger bull, 
but his horns had not the beautiful curve of 
the smaller one which I always think is the 
handsome part of a sable head, so I decided on 
the latter which was about 200 yards from me. 
I was inside the timber on the side of the 
vlei or park opposite to them, and to get nearer 
was impossible, as I should be obliged to come 
out into the open. My first shot with my double 
.303 was a mystery. I did not hear the bullet 
strike and except for a few old cows the herd 
hardly noticed the sound. The bull I had shot 
at just stamped a little. At the second shot, 
however, away they all went, straight up the 
open vlei, and after them went the old pointer 
dog. It was a magnificent sight. Jumping on 
my horse I followed quickly and saw the bull 
dropping behind with old Shot baying at him, 
but keeping at a very respectful distance. 
I should have shot from a good distance and 
dropped him, but I foolishly approached them 
and that moment the infuriated sable made a 
rush at the dog, which ran toward me, thus 
bringing the sable right on me. I had only time 
to jump off and take a snapshot, and luckily 
for my horse my aim was good, as the buck 
dropped dead a yard from the horse. This is 
the danger of shooting dangerous game with a 
dog. When charged the dog naturally retreats 
for protection, thus leading the animal on to 
his master. However, a miss is as good as a 
mile, but this was a call too close to be pleasant, 
as an angry sable will go for anything and his 
horns being terribly sharp he can do fe'^rful 
execution. Once since then I have seen a dog 
cause his master’s death. This was with a lion 
that followed the dog which retreated to his 
master who unfortunately made a bad shot and 
the lion mauled and killed him, although during 
the mauling the dog never ceased worrying the 
lion, but not sufficiently to draw him from the 
man. It is a very hard thing to find a dog with 
the necessary courage. Either he will be too 
courageous and get killed himself or courageous 
in the ordinary way, but lacking the extra cour¬ 
age and the sense he will become a danger in¬ 
stead of a help. 
This bull had an exceedingly symmetrical 
head, with a fine bend to the horns. He had 
been fighting, as his skin was covered with scars 
and by the number of cows he had with him 
I supposed it to have been the rutting season. 
I dressed him and then covered him up with 
branches, as by the time I should get back to 
camp it would be too late to send out boys to 
fetch in the meat. 
When I reached camp I found that one of 
the pointers I had sold had already returned, 
having evidently broken loose, and early next 
morning a runner came in from the Dutchman 
asking if the dog had turned up and if so to 
please hand him over, which I did, and then 
started out to fetch in my sable, which I found 
untouched, though a good many birds had al¬ 
ready arrived on the scene and were watching. 
As we were cutting him up some natives ar¬ 
rived with the usual request for meat. I told 
them if two or three would come along with 
me I would try to kill something for them. I 
had not gone very far before I saw a water- 
buck which jumped up not more than twenty 
yards from me and which I easily secured. I 
thought this good enough for natives and they 
were evidently of the same opinion, as two 
started to skin it, while the third went off to 
fetch help to carry in the meat, and I sat down 
and watched. In a short time women and chil¬ 
dren arrived, fires were lighted, and they started 
to feast, eating half raw entrails which had not 
even been washed. I like watching natives and 
noting their ways and customs. Their sole en¬ 
joyment seems to be eating and getting drunk 
on native beer, which is made from fermented 
Kaffir corn, and good stuff it is, especially when 
you are very thirsty and hot, but do not take 
too much. 
On my return to camp I had lunch and then 
went shooting pheasants at the native village. 
There were any quantity in the old gardens and 
I had some fine sport. Feathered game often 
makes a very welcome change to the menu and 
I killed sufficient birds to stock the larder for 
a few days. During the afternoon I saw at 
least a dozen oribi. These pretty little bucks 
are delicious and are considered the best of all 
venison for the table. The next day I went 
out intending to shoot one, but shot what the 
natives called a “timbre.” It was exactly like 
an oribi except for a small tuft of hair stick¬ 
ing up between its horns. I understood them 
to say that this was a very rare buck, but all I 
know about it is that it was excellent eating. 
The natives showed me their game traps and 
in one they found an oribi. There is no doubt 
but that the natives kill a great deal more game 
than people think, and I will try to explain how 
they make their game traps and the methods 
they employ. I would warn my readers to take 
care and not to get into one, as on one occasion 
I did when going at full gallop. Marvelous to 
relate, neither myself nor my horse was hurt, 
but it necessitated a bit of digging to get the 
poor brute out. I was thrown clear. 
Game animals nearly always travel on well 
An Afrikander's Journal 
By JOHN A. M. LETHBRIDGE 
V.—Antelope Hunting and a Night Alone in 
the Bush 
