"The Sun Was Very Hot, And I Found Crawling So Great A Distance A
Laborious Operation; My Eyes Were Nearly Blinded With Perspiration And
Charcoal Dust; But Every Now And Then, As I Carefully Raised My Head, I
Could Distinguish The Horns Of The Antelope In The Original Position.
At
length I arrived at the base of the last ant-hill from which I must take
my shot.
"There were a few tufts of low scrub growing on the summit; to these I
climbed, and digging my toes firmly into an inequality in the side of
the hill, I planted my elbows well on the surface, my cap being
concealed by the small bushes and tufts of withered grass. The antelope
was standing unconsciously about 170 yards, or, as I then considered,
about 180 yards from me, perfectly motionless, and much resembling a
figure fixed upon a pedestal. The broadside was exposed, thus it would
have been impossible to have had a more perfect opportunity after a long
stalk. Having waited in a position for a minute or two, to become cool
and to clear my eyes, I aimed at his shoulder. Almost as I touched the
trigger, the antelope sank suddenly upon its knees, in which position it
remained for some seconds on the summit of the ant-hill, and then rolled
down to the base, dead. I stepped the exact distance, 169 paces. I had
fired rather high, as the bullet had broken the spine a little in front
of the shoulder-blade.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 71 of 782
Words from 18500 to 18754
of 207249
