ather invigorated by the loss of blood.

One of the Boers, who had changed to his second horse, now passed me,
and firing, placed a second bullet in the eland's shoulder. The eland
still trotted rapidly away, and both my horse and the Boer's being
completely blown, we could go no farther. We could see the wounded
animal pass over a hill in our front, and apparently go directly down on
the other side; we managed to lead our horses to the top where he had
passed, and took a minute survey of the surrounding plains, but could
discover no signs of our lost antelope, as the country was so much
broken by clumps of trees and undulations.

The other Dutchmen soon joined us, and blessed the eland in choice
language for escaping and being such a hard runner. We all spread out
along the ridges, to get if possible a view, as also to search for
spoor; but the hard state of the ground prevented our doing anything by
the latter means.

Evening closing in, we were forced to give up, and thus one of the
finest specimens of horns that I ever saw on an eland's head was lost.
The animal must have miserably perished in some ravine, and found an
ignoble tomb in the maws of hyaenas and wolves, instead of assisting at
the festivities of our _al fresco_ repast, or adding strength to the
sinews of some worthy Dutch Boer, his "vrow" or "kinders."

We did not reach the outspanned waggons until long after dark, and were
directed to them by the firing kept up at intervals by the Hottentots at
the waggons.

There is an established custom in Africa, that when any one is absent
from the nightly gathering, a man is sent on to the nearest rise, when,
putting the muzzle of his gun close to the ground, he fires the two
barrels in quick succession: this is repeated at short intervals, and on
a still night the report is heard many miles off. Should any one be
lost, or in distress, at any time, the same signal from him serves to
indicate it. I asked all the Dutchmen into my tent, and we had our beef
and bread brought in hot-and-hot, with a steaming basin of tea from the
bivouac-fire. I had with me a plentiful supply of brandy and gin, which
I distributed to my guests with a free hand. They talked a great deal,
the run we had had being the principal topic; they were generous enough
to say that they thought I should have killed the eland at once, had I
been allowed to go off after him.

I was much, amused to discover by their conversation in what po