Each stood five feet high, from the fore-hoof to the shoulder, and full nine feet in length.
They were antelopes of course--that species known among Cape colonists as the "hartebeest" (_Acronotus caama_).

There were in all about fifty of them in the herd.
When first observed by Von Bloom, they were quietly browsing upon the plain.

The next moment, however, they were seen to run to and fro, as if suddenly alarmed by the approach of an enemy.
And an enemy there certainly was; for in a moment more the herd had taken to flight; and Von Bloom now saw that they were followed by a _pack of hounds_! I say a "pack of hounds," for the creatures in the distance exactly resembled hounds more than anything in the world.

Nay, more than resembled, for it actually _was_ a pack of hounds--of _wild hounds_! Of course Von Bloom knew what they were.

He knew they were the "wilde-honden," very absurdly named by sapient naturalists "_Hyena venatica_," or "hunting hyena," and by others, with equal absurdity, the "hunting dog." I pronounce these names "absurd," first because the animal in question bears no more resemblance to a hyena than it does to a hedgehog; and, secondly, because "hunting dog" is a very ridiculous appellation, since any dog may merit a similar title.
Now I would ask, why could these naturalists not let the nomenclature of the boors alone?
If a better name than "wilde-honden" (wild hounds) can be given to these animals, I should like to hear it.