When we had passed through the Gap we moderated our
furious pace and kept our eyes open on the look-out for game; we then
trotted slowly to the top of a grassy hill, from whose summit we saw
two herds of animals, whether antelopes, goats or gazelles, we did not
know, grazing by the side of the stream below us.
`We were about to gallop down and try to get a shot at them, when it
struck me that it would be wiser to try and drive the whole herd
through the Gap into our own domain, where they would be shut up, as it
were, in a park, free and yet within reach.
`Down the hill we rode as hard as we could go, formed in a semicircle
behind the larger herd of magnificent antelopes--and, aided by the dogs,
with shouts and cries drove them along the stream towards the Gap; as
we came near the opening they appeared inclined to halt and turn like
sheep about to be driven into the butcher's yard; and it was all we
could do to prevent them from bolting past us; but, at length, one made
a rush at the opening and, the rest following, they were soon all on
the other side of the frontier and inhabitants of New Switzerland.'
`Capital,' I said, `capital, my boy! But I don't see what is to make
them remain inhabitants of our domain, or to prevent them from
returning through the Gap whenever they feel inclined.
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