XI FIVE BUFFALO BULLS 219 



distance farther on, we came upon five old bulls 

 feeding on the short young grass, beneath some tall 

 acacia trees. So intent were they upon their occupa- 

 tion that, although they were heading towards us, 

 they seemed utterly unconscious of our presence. 



Motioning to my Kafirs _ to remain behind, I 

 advanced noiselessly to a tree, certainly within twenty 

 yards of the foremost, and then, standing clear of the 

 trunk, I shouted out, " Halloa there ! " Listantly 

 the five ponderous heads were raised, and five sets 

 of eyes stared with a wondering, inquisitive sort of 

 gaze at the unwonted intruder. Only for a few 

 moments, though ; then, headed by a grey, almost 

 hairless old fellow, they turned and went oft^ at a 

 lumbering gallop into the adjacent bush. A mile or 

 two farther on, we passed another enormous herd of 

 these animals, lying, like the first we had seen, just 

 on the slope of the sand-belt, where they had no 

 doubt been sleeping during the intense heat of the 

 day. This part of the country must have been 

 utterly undisturbed by human beings for some time 

 past, or buffaloes would never lie like this all day 

 long, and in full view, so close to the water. As I 

 had meat, and, moreover, feared lest a shot might 

 disturb more valuable game, I did not think of 

 molesting them, and reached camp again a little 

 before sundown, jui:t in time to see three tall, graceful 

 giraffes issue from the forest a little distance beyond, 

 and stalk across the intervening flat, swishing their 

 long tails to and fro, on their way down to the water. 

 It is a curious sight to watch these long-legged 

 animals drinking, and one that I have had several 

 opportunities of enjoying. Though their necks are 

 long, they are not sufficiently so to enable them to 

 reach the water without straddling their legs wide 



