XIV TOSSED BY A BUFFALO 293 



There was no time to be lost, as I was not more 

 than forty yards from him ; so, reining in with a 

 jerk and turning the horse at the same instant broad- 

 side on, I raised my gun, intending to put a ball, if 

 possible, just between his neck and shoulder, which, 

 could I have done so, would either have knocked him 

 down, or at any rate made him swerve, but my horse, 

 instead of standing steady as he had always done 

 before, now commenced walking forward, though he 

 did not appear to take any notice of the buffalo. 

 There was no time to put my hand down and give 

 another wrench on the bridle (which I had let fall on 

 the horse's neck), and for the life of me I could not 

 get a sight with the horse in motion. A charging 

 buffalo does not take many seconds to cover forty 

 yards, and in another instant his outstretched nose was 

 within six feet of me, so, lowering the gun from my 

 shoulder, I pulled it off right in his face, at the same 

 time digging the spurs deep into my horse's sides. 

 But it was too late, for even as he sprang forward 

 the old bull caught him full in the flank, pitching 

 him, with me on his back, into the air like a dog. 

 The recoil of the heavily-charged elephant gun with 

 which I was unluckily shooting, twisted it clean out 

 of my hands, so that we all, horse, gun, and man, fell 

 in different directions. My horse regained its feet 

 and galloped away immediately, but even with a 

 momentary glance, I saw that the poor brute's entrails 

 were protruding in a dreadful manner. The buffalo, 

 on tossing the horse, had stopped dead, and now 

 stood with his head lowered within a few feet of me. 

 I had fallen in a sitting position, and facing my 

 unpleasant-looking adversary. 1 could see no wound 

 on him, so must have missed, though I can scarcely 

 understand how, as he was so very close when I fired. 



