They hunt in silence.
The hand-sign indicates that one of them has found the track of a group of kudu.
These are the San people of the Kalahari Desert,
the last tribe on Earth to use what some believe
is the most ancient hunting technique of all, the persistence hunt.
They run down their prey.
They start to feel the rhythm of the animals' movements
from the spacing of tracks.
The group is not moving fast.
The animals have taken fright.
They will concentrate on the bull.
He will be carrying a heavy set of horns and therefore will tire more quickly.
To do that, they must separate him from the herd,
so his tracks won't be confused by those of others.
The sun is overhead and the men sense a change in the kudu's pace.
He's slowing.
After hours of tracking,
they've entered an almost trance-like state of concentration.
At times, it's impossible to see any sign of the kudu's tracks
and the hunters must imagine the path it will have taken.
The heat is hard on the hunters, but they're now close enough
for the next stage in the hunt... the chase.
This is the signal for it to begin.
But only one man will undertake it, Karohe the runner.
He must be relentless.
It's now a test of endurance.
Who will collapse first, the man or the animal?
This was how men hunted before they had weapons, when a hunter had nothing more
than his own physical endurance with which to gain his prize.
Running on two feet is more efficient over long distances than running on four.
A man sweats from glands all over his body and so cools himself.
A kudu sweats much less and has to find shade if it's to cool down.
And a man has hands with which to carry water,
so during the chase he can replenish the liquid he loses as sweat.
Hours pass and Karohe is getting closer.
But then the kudu runs into thick cover.
The tracks have disappeared.
Karohe tries to puts himself into the mind of the kudu
and himself re-enacts the moment
when it heard him approaching as it tried to rest in the shade.
He deduces the direction in which it must have fled.
It's close by.
The chase has lasted eight hours.
Hunter and hunted are both at the end of their strength.
Neither can go on much longer.
And then the kudu collapses...
from sheer exhaustion.
It's close to death.
Karohe's spear-throw now is scarcely more than a symbolic gesture.
The hunter pays tribute to his quarry's courage and strength
with ceremonial gestures that ensure
that its spirit returns to the desert sands from which it came.
While it was alive, he lived and breathed with it
and felt its every movement in his own body.
And at the moment of death, he shared its pain.
He rubs its saliva into his own legs
to relieve the agony of his burning muscles.
And he gives thanks for the life he has taken,
so that he may sustain the lives of his family,
waiting for him in their settlement.