black horse. After driving
for more than half an hour along an indefinite kind of waggon track, the
leading cart, in which were old Hans Coetzee himself, a Malay driver,
and a coloured Cape boy, turned to the left across the open veldt, and
the others followed in turn. This went on for some time, till at last
they reached the crest of a rise that commanded a large sweep of open
country, and here Hans halted and held up his hand, whereon the
others halted too. On looking out over the vast plain before him John
discovered the reason. About half a mile beneath them was a great herd
of blesbuck feeding, three hundred or more of them, and beyond them
another herd of some sixty or seventy much larger and wilder-looking
animals with white tails, which John at once recognised as vilderbeeste.
Nearer to them again, dotted about here and there on the plain, were a
couple of dozen or so of graceful yellow springbuck.

Now a council of war was held, which resulted in the men on
horseback--among whom was Frank Muller--being despatched to circumvent
the herds and drive them towards the carts, that took up their stations
at various points, towards which the buck were likely to run.

Then came a pause of a quarter of an hour or so, till suddenly, from
the far ridge of the opposite slope, John saw a couple of puffs of white
smoke float up into the air, and one of the vilderbeeste below rolled
over on his back, kicking and plunging furiously. Thereon the whole herd
of buck turned and came thundering towards them, stretched in a long
line across the wide veldt; the springbuck first, then the blesbuck,
looking for all the world like a herd of great bearded goats, owing to
their peculiar habit of holding their long heads down as they galloped.
Behind and mixed up with them were the vilderbeeste, who twisted and
turned, and jumped into the air as though they had gone clean off their
heads and were next second going clean on to them. It is very difficult,
owing to his extraordinary method of progression, to distinguish one
part of a galloping vilderbeeste from another; now it is his horns, now
his tail, and now his hoofs that present themselves to the watcher's
bewildered vision, and now again they all seem to be mixed up together.
On came the great herd, making the ground shake beneath their footfall:
and after them galloped the mounted Boers, from time to time jumping
off their horses to fire a shot into the line of game, which generally