Chapter 26 - A Narrative of Hunting Adventures in Southern Africa by Mayne Reid
Stalking the Blesboks
When they had got fairly within the boundaries of the blesbok country, the young yägers resolved to make halt for a day or two, and hunt these beautiful antelopes. Not that they desired their flesh, but they wished to strip one or two of them of their bright, parti-coloured robes, to be hung up along with their horns in the halls of Graaf Reinet.
After treking some miles across the plains, they outspanned by a vley, and formed their camp.
The following morning they mounted their horses, and proceeded over the plain in search of the purple antelopes.
They were not long in finding them. That is by no means a difficult thing with an animal that herds together in thousands, provided you chance to be in the district it inhabits; and the yägers were not slow in coming within view of a herd of blesboks.
But how to hunt them was a knowledge which none of the party possessed—whether to let slip the buck-dogs and gallop right into the thick of the herd, or to get within shot by stalking—which of these was the proper manner neither the young yägers nor their drivers knew. In Swartboy’s country neither blesboks nor bonteboks are known. They do not range to the western half of South Africa, and the young yägers only knew them by tradition. Their fathers had hunted them years before; but both species had been long since exterminated south of the Orange River.
As for Congo, although their range extended into a part of the Kaffir country, he had never chanced to hunt in that particular district. Of course neither Bushman nor Kaffir were on the ground with the hunters. They had been left in charge of the camp; but the advice of both had been asked at setting out, and it was ascertained that they had none to give.
The hunters were at a loss how to proceed, and held a discussion upon it. Groot Willem thought they should be hunted like springboks,—that is, the hunters should take stand and conceal themselves, while one or two rode round and drove the game upon these—a mode practised with the fallow-deer in the forests of North America, and there termed “driving.”
Hendrik believed that they could be “ridden into,” and run down by the dogs.
Hans recommended “stalking,” with which, plan Arend agreed. Of course no opinion was either asked from or given by the lads Klaas and Jan. Had they been birds, they would have insisted upon their “say” as well as their elder brothers.
But blesboks are not birds, although in less than an hour after they proved themselves to be almost as swift.
Now, as stalking was the mode least likely to give the herd the alarm and seed them off, it could be tried first. Should no one succeed in getting within shot, then Groot Willem’s plan might be adopted; and should it also fail to be successful, it would still not be too late to follow Hendrik’s advice, and ride right at them.
First, then, for a “stalk.”
They were not going to stalk them upon horseback. That would never do, though there are some animals that will suffer a mounted man to approach hearer than one afoot. But blesboks are not of that kind.
All dismounted, therefore, and proceeded on foot in the direction of the herd. Not all, exactly. Klaas and Jan remained on the spot in charge of the dogs and horses. Klaas and Jan were to have no share in the stalk.
The herd was in the middle of a vast open plain—so wide that the mountains on its opposite side were scarcely visible. Upon all that plain not a bush or rock appeared. The grass, as already stated, was short cropped, and smooth as a meadow—not a break in the surface to offer a chance of concealment to the hunter! How, then, could they talk of “stalking” on such ground? They knew that no wild animal, however stupid or negligent, would permit them to walk up within point-blank range and fire at them. How, then, were they going to approach the blesboks, that they had heard were any thing but stupid—on the contrary, were exceedingly shy and watchful of danger? How? That is a peculiar point, and requires explanation.
Although there were neither rocks, nor trees, nor bushes of any kind, nor long grass, nor inequalities in the ground, there was still a species of “cover.” Not the best, it is true, but such as would serve a skilful hunter who knew how to take advantage of it. Enough to give hopes to the yägers, else they would not have dreamt of such a thing as an attempt to stalk the blesboks.
Scattered over the plain, and standing at irregular distances of from one to three hundred yards of each other, were numerous singular structures. They were of the form of obtuse cones, or hemispherical, and all of a light grey colour—the colour of sun-dried mud. On the sides of most of them at their bases could be seen a hole of irregular outlines, and evidently not made by the neat workmen who had built the mounds. Quite the contrary. These entrances to the hollow domes within were not for them. Theirs were underground. These had been made by their enemies—the burglars who had plundered their houses. I am sure I need hardly tell you that the structures thus described were ant-hills, and that the big holes in this side were the work of the long-tongued “aard-vark,” or the scaly “pangolin.”
The hills in question were dome-shaped, and of moderate size—varying from one to three feet in height. This is by no means as large as many ant-hills found in Southern Africa. Some are four times that height, or still higher; but I have told you elsewhere of these high hills, and that there are different species of ants who construct such curious nests—each species choosing its own style of architecture,—some the cone, or pyramidal form,—some a complete cluster of cones,—some build them of cylindrical shape, and others nearly half-spherical, like inverted tea-basins.
Of these last were the ant-hills now under the eyes of the young yägers. They were the nests of the Termes mordax—a species that inhabits all the plains of the “zuur-veldt” country.
The hunters proceeded to stalk forward, their eyes bent upon the antelopes, and their hopes fixed upon the ant-hills.
Of course they did not commence crouching, until they had tried how near the blesboks would allow them to come without cover. This they soon discovered to be about four hundred yards; and although the animals did not seem to mind their presence at that distance, but continued browsing, yet the moment any one of the four endeavoured to get nearer, the herd, as if mechanically, moved off, and still kept a width of four hundred yards between themselves and the stalkers.
The hunters now began to stalk in earnest, crouching from hill to hill. It was to no purpose. None of the four could get within shot. They separated and took different sides. The same result followed—a failure. Although the herd kept on, and always in the same general direction, they seemed instinctively to avoid whatever ant-heap a hunter had chosen, giving it a “wide berth” which carried them beyond the reach even of Groot Willem’s roer! After two hours spent in this fruitless kind of hunting, the plan was abandoned.
The “stalk” would not do; and Hans and Arend were now sneered and laughed at by Hendrik and Groot Willem.
“What could they know about hunting? Ha! ha! ha!”