Away went the aggageers after the wounded
animal, like greyhounds, and in a few hundred yards the sword
finished the hunt.
The Nellut is the handsomest of all the large antelopes; the male
is about thirteen hands high, and carries a pair of beautiful
spiral horns, upwards of three feet in length; the colour of the
hide is a dark mouse-grey, ornamented with white stripes down the
flanks, and a white line along the back from the shoulder to the
tail. The female is without horns, but is in other respects
similar to the male. These beautiful animals do not inhabit the
plains like the other varieties of antelopes, but are generally
found in deep-wooded ravines. In South Africa it is known as the
koodoo.
The aggageers quickly flayed and quartered the game, which was
arranged upon the horses, and thus it was carried to our camp, at
which we arrived late in the evening.
On the following morning, at my usual hour of starting, a little
before sunrise, we crossed a deep portion of the river, through
which the horses were obliged to swim; on this occasion I rode
Aggahr, who was my best hunter. In that very charming and useful
book by Mr. Francis Galton, "The Art of Travel," advice is given
for crossing a deep river, by holding to the tail of the swimming
horse.
