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by the hunter, using its horns with amazing energy and address, by striking right and left at its assailants with prodigious 
violence. Oppian, the modern Arabs of the desert, and the Hottentots, are all agreed in describing the danger of ap- 
proaching these animals before they are totally disabled, It is said that even the lion dreads the encounter, and never ven- 
tures upon an attack unless irresistibly compelled by the cravings of hunger, when his temerity often costs him his life. 
To prove this, it is stated that the skeleton of the Oryx has not unfrequently been found locked in that of the king of 
beasts, the assailant having been transfixed by the formidable horns of the quarry in a conflict which has proved fatal to 
both, Of the truth of this somewhat improbable story, however, I do not pretend to offer an opinion — merely hinting, 
that a single blow from the heavy paw of Leo, falling with the force of a sledge-hammer, will deprive the largest ox of 
life more effectually than the pole-axe of a Smithfield butcher. 
Although rather common in Namaqua-land, the Gemsbok was of sufficiently rare occurrence throughout the regions we 
traversed, to render it an object of the greatest interest. The first specimens we met with were on plains that skirt the 
northern bank of the Molopo, a spot which had been previously indicated to me at Graham’s Town, by a trader named 
David Hume, as one in which the animal was always to be seen. That wild country, dotted over with isolated groves of 
the acacia capensis, and clothed with a species of wild basil, yielding an aromatic scent when crushed beneath the foot, 
afforded the subject of the plate annexed;—the river, which constitutes the western boundary of Moselekatse’s territories, 
having a broad shallow bed, covered with turf, and traversed by a deep cunette, forming a stream about. ten yards wide, 
completely overgrown with high reeds. We had taken the field about daybreak to look for the promised Unicorns, and 
were admiring the Jong slender horns of a bleaching skull on the ground, when one of the Hottentots pointed out a dis- 
tant figure statant gardant, among a group of Hartebeests. The magnifying powers of a pocket telescope presently corro- 
borated the assertion of the discoverer, that this was a bona-fide Gemsbok. There he stood, clad in half mourning, looming 
as large as a donkey, and scanning our party most attentively—his long taper toasting-fork horns, like a pair of walking 
sticks, standing out in bold relief against the blue horizon, and his black bushy tail whisking over his piebald sides. “ L’on 
comprend,” observes M. le Comte de Buffon, in speaking of this superb animal, “que ce bizarre assemblage de couleurs, 
offre un coup-d'ceil trés frappant,”—and never were words more truly spoken. I was mounted on my favourite horse, who, 
before he came into my possession, by virtue of a disbursement of one hundred and fifty Rix dollars, had carried off 
several stakes on the Cape turf; and the infallible Hottentots being unanimously of opinion with myself, that “Breslar could 
catch de Bok,” my companion made a circuit to intercept him from the jungles, whilst I cantered slowly towards him, looking 
of course in the opposite direction, affecting most profound ignorance of his princely presence, but treating myself, as I drew 
nearer and more near, to an occasional peep from under my cap, 
On my arriving within eighty or a hundred yards, the beast uttered a shrill cry, and dropping his wild head, which 
looked exactly as if encased in a black patent leather head-stall with nose-band and chin-strap complete, wheeled to the right 
about, and scoured off with amazing swiftness, leaving the Hartebeests in the rear to pursue their own devices, and making 
straight as an arrow for the densest jungle. Here however the appearance of the party fortunately turned him, and as he crossed 
a-head of me, luffing up in the wind, I obtained a beautiful Jay in. Unable to shake me off, his object now appeared to be to 
gain a gorge, formed by a conical tumulus which stood in advance of a low range of hills. Thus far, the ground, in parts 
covered with detached patches of long, white, hay-like grass, was a perfect bowling green; but a few seconds brought us to the 
end of it, and after threading a narrow strip of the acacia detinens, the hooked thorns of which shrub have obtained for it the 
title of wagteen bityes or stop-a-little, we dashed through the gorge together —the quarry leading by ten yards. The chase now 
lay over undulating stony ground, the vegetation of which had recently been cleared off by fire—the white slabs that were bared 
around, strongly contrasting with the black charred bushes which grew amongst the crevices. In order to burn off the withered 
grass, a considerable tract of country had been set on fire a few weeks before, and the bountiful thunderclouds having caused the 
young green blades to make their appearance, large herds of game had been attracted to the spot. Without gaining or losing a 
single inch upon each other, on we clattered, the strait antennze-looking horns of the fugitive laid back along his magpie flanks— 
his belly almost touching the ground at every stride, and his ample tail sweeping behind him, Now the dust raised by a retreating 
herd of zebras and ostriches, whose feet rattled over the hard soil, caused a momentary diversion in his favor; and now, regaining 
my lost ground, we passed together under the sneering noses of three statue-resembling Rhinoceroses, who had literally not time 
to make up their minds what was to be done, before, meteor-like, both pursuer and pursued were far beyond their reach. 
Rapidly was the peach-blossom coat of the Gemsbok growing darker with sweat and charcoal, and fast were the fieshless 
sides and bleeding flanks of my exhausted steed, getting whiter with froth, as we continued to leave the ground behind us, 
clearing stones, rayines and bushes, without swerving one inch from our arrow-like course. At length the tongue of the quarry 
was lolling out, and his tail drooping between his tired legs; but although his black list stripe was almost under my bows, he 
was far fresher than my blowing horse, and I perceived, beyond a shadow of doubt, that another hundred yards would see me 
planted. Taking a strong pull upon the bridle, therefore, and cramming in the rowels, I gained a few strides upon the quarry, 
and throwing myself from the saddle, let fly both barrels of my rifle. The first bullet knocked up the dust behind his heels, as 
it glanced off the stony ground at a tangent —whizzed through the vacuum with the music of a humming-top, and finally fell 
harmless to the earth. To my inexpressible delight, however, the second discharge was responded to by a dull heavy pat, which 
was instantly followed by the dangling of a hind leg. Hurrah for the hard-earned spoils! Resuming my seat, I was pre- 
