y still;
and their plan was successful, as they were undiscovered by us.

We also saw that three or four elephants, that were feeding close to the
spot from whence we had fired, had chased us for at least two hundred
yards. Fortunately, one of the sharp turns which we had taken threw
them out in the chase, and very probably saved us from being acquainted
with the weight of their feet.

I must say that this little adventure somewhat cooled my ardour for a
second meeting with these angry brutes. Interviews, however, frequently
did again happen, as will be seen by the future pages.

CHAPTER FIVE.

NECESSITY OF A GUN--STRANGE FOOTSTEP--A DISAPPOINTMENT--VICINITY OF THE
UMGANIE--DUIKER BUCK--MATUAN THE KAFFIR--VOCAL TELEGRAPH--REITBOK--A
HUMAN POINTER--SINGULAR CONVERSATION--APATHY OF THE RESIDENTS--KAFFIR
MESSENGERS--BUCK SHOOTING--THE BUCK'S TENACITY OF LIFE--A BUCK ON THREE
LEGS--DANGEROUS COUNTRY--A SPORTING RED-COAT--STRANGE SPORTSMEN.

After this attack on and by the elephants, I devoted my time to the
pursuit of the reit-buck (_Eleotragus reduncus_), the ourebi
(_Oreotragus scoparius_), the duiker (_Cephalophorus mergens_), etc.,
all of them found within a few miles of Natal. As these days' sport
are, with little exception, repetitions of each other, and therefore
possess interest only to the person concerned, I will select one or two
incidents, that stand well out in my memory, as amongst the most
interesting.

It is always advisable, in a country of this description, where the game
wanders and its locality is uncertain, never to be out without a gun.
You may wander for many miles and not see a single head of game in a
country that ought to be teeming with it; but you may stroll out one
hundred yards from your house and meet a noble buck who has come to take
a peep at you. He, of course, will not accept your invitation to wait
until you go in for your gun.

Scarcely an individual whom I ever met, and who had been long resident
in Natal, did not remark some time or other to me, "Oh! if I had had my
gun the other day, I would have shot so and so." In time, also, the gun
becomes no more troublesome to carry than a walking-stick.

I can mention many instances with regard to myself, where, not thinking
it at all probable that I should see anything worth shooting, I left my
gun at home. I have then had some teasing buck jump up in front of me,
and stand looking for half a minute, as if quizzing me, at pe