of the
rocks, but the dogs were no longer visible. Then the yellow spot
suddenly disappeared like the going out of a candle, and they could see
it no more.

No doubt the antelope was pulled down!

A strange suspicion entered the mind of Von Bloom, and, calling upon
them to saddle the quaggas, he, with Hans and Hendrik, rode off towards
the place where the hartebeest had been last seen.

They approached the ground with caution; and under the shelter of some
bushes were enabled to get within two hundred yards of the spot without
being observed. A singular spectacle rewarded their pains.

Within a dozen yards of the cliff lay the body of the hartebeest, where
it had been "pulled down" by the dogs. It was already half-eaten, not
by the hounds that had hunted it, but by their puppies of all ages, that
to the number of more than threescore were now standing around the
carcass, tugging away at its flesh and snarling at one another! Some of
the grown dogs that had taken part in the chase could be seen lying upon
the ground, still panting after their hard run; but most of them had
disappeared, no doubt into the numerous small caves and crevices that
opened along the bottom of the cliffs.

There was no room left to doubt the singular fact--that the wild hounds
had regularly driven the hartebeest up to their breeding-place to feed
their young, and that they had abstained from killing it out upon the
plain to save themselves the labour of dragging it from a distance!

Indeed these animals--unlike the _Felida_--have not the power of
transporting a large mass to any considerable distance; hence the
wonderful instinct which led them to guide the antelope to the very spot
where its flesh was wanted!

That they were in the constant practice of this singular habit was
attested, by the numerous bones and horns of large antelopes of
different kinds, that lay strewed around the place.

Von Bloom had his eye upon the young puppies, and all three made a rush
towards them. But it was to no purpose. Cunning as their fathers and
mothers, the little fellows forsook their meal at first sight of the
intruders, and darted off into their caves!

But they were not cunning enough to escape the snares, which were laid
for them every day for a week after; and, before the end of that time,
more than a dozen of them were safely domiciled in a little kennel built
especially for their use, under the shadow of the great nwana-tree.

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