"It was, of course, necessary to keep several tall ant-hills in a line
with that upon which the antelope was standing, and to stoop so low that
I could only see the horns of the animal upon the sky-line. In some
places it was necessary to crawl upon the ground; this was trying work,
on account of the sharp stumps of the burnt herbage which punished the
hands and knees. The fine charcoal dust from the recent fire was also a
trouble, as the wind blew it into the eyes. The watermark upon the
ant-hills was about eighteen inches above the base, proving the height
of the annual floods; and a vast number of the large water helix, the
size of a man's fist, lay scattered over the ground, destroyed and
partially calcined by the late prairie fire.
"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. It was a very beautiful animal, a fine bull, of
the same kind that I had killed on 1st April. This antelope was about
thirteen hands high at the shoulder, the head long, the face and ears
black, also the top of the head; the body bright bay, with a stripe of
black about fifteen inches in width extending obliquely across the
shoulder, down both the fore and the hind legs, and meeting at the rump.
The tail was long, with a tuft of long black hair at the extremity. The
horns were deeply annulated, and curved backwards towards the shoulders.
"This was a very large animal, that would have weighed quite thirty
stone when gralloched. My boatman, who had been watching the sport,
immediately despatched a man for assistance to the diahbeeah. I enjoyed
the beauty of this animal: the hide glistened like the coat of a
well-groomed horse.
"I did not reach the diahbeeah until 6 p.m.; we then started without
delay, and reached the fleet at midnight, at the junction of the ditch
through which we had previously arrived at the main river.
"April 4. - The vessels are passing with great difficulty over the
shallow entrance of the ditch.
"April 5. - All the vessels have passed. At 6 p.m. we succeeded, after
much labour, in getting the last of the steamers through. This
accomplished, and having the stream in our favour, we passed along in a
compact line for about a mile and a half, the ditch that we had opened
being clear and in good order.
"April 6. - Another soldier died. This poor man was the companion of him
who, a few days ago, prophesied his own end when he lost his friend.
Curiously enough, he died as he was passing the spot where his friend
was buried, and we had to bury him in the same ant-hill. The Egyptian
troops are very unhealthy. When they first joined the expedition, they
were an exceedingly powerful body of men, whose PHYSIQUE I much admired,
although their MORALE was of the worst type. I think that every man has
lost at least a stone in weight since we commenced this dreadful voyage
in chaos, or the Slough of Despond.
"The boats reached the small lake, and continued their voyage through
the channel, and anchored for the night at the northern extremity of the
five-mile lake. We catch delicious fish daily with the casting-net; the
best are the Nile perch, that runs from a pound to four or five pounds,
and a species of carp. One of my boatmen is a professional fisherman who
understands the casting-net, but he is the only man who can use it.
"April 7. - The channel is again blocked up; all hands clearing into the
next lake. Another soldier died - making a total of nine; with two
sailors and a boy - total twelve.
"April 8. - Passed into lake No. 2, and by the afternoon reached lake No.
3, where we found our old channel blocked up. I set men to work to open
the passage, but there is no chance of its completion until about noon
to-morrow. Since we passed this lake a change has taken place, the
obstruction through which we cut a channel has entirely broken up. Large
rafts of about two acres each have drifted asunder, and have floated to
the end of the lake.
