In this spot, Soojalup, I could have
killed any number, had I wished to expend my shot: but this most
necessary ammunition required much nursing during a long
exploration. I had a good supply, four hundredweight of the most
useful sizes, No. 6 for general shooting, and B B. for geese,
&c.; also a bag of No. 10, for firing into dense flocks of small
birds. On the following morning we left Soojalup; for several
miles on our route were Arab camps and wells, with immense herds
of goats, sheep, and cattle. Antelopes were very numerous, and it
was exceedingly interesting to observe the new varieties as we
increased our distance from the north. I shot two from my camel
(G. Dorcas); they were about the size of a fine roebuck;--the
horns were like those of the gazelle, but the animals were larger
and darker in colour, with a distinguishing mark in a jet black
stripe longitudinally dividing the white of the belly from the
reddish colour of the flank. These antelopes were exceedingly
wild, and without the aid of a camel it would have been
impossible to approach them. I had exchanged my donkey for Hadji
Achmet's dromedary; thus mounted, I could generally succeed in
stalking to within ninety or a hundred yards, by allowing the
animal to feed upon the various bushes, as though I had mounted
it for the purpose of leading it to graze.
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