XXI BUFFALO BULL SHOT 465 



a shot ; so, having noticed the fresh spoors of a large 

 herd while running, I went back to these, judging it 

 would be better to follow them than the three old 

 bulls, which, already alarmed, had all their wits about 

 them. I first made a cup of tea and ate a strip of 

 broiled sea-cow meat, and then took up the spoor ; 

 but although it looked as fresh as paint, we found 

 the buffiiloes had passed here the preceding after- 

 noon on their way to the water, and so we had first 

 to follow all their peregrinations down to a little 

 tributary of the Umniati before getting into their 

 fresh tracks, and though we kept at it hard, it was 

 very nearly sunset before we at last sighted the 

 herd. They had already risen from the place where 

 they had been lying during the heat of the day, and 

 were slowly feedino-alono^ in a strao^o-H nor line throuo:h 

 the bush ; there must have been fifty or sixty of 

 them. Taking the precaution to keep well below ■ 

 the wind, I got, after a good deal of stooping and 

 crawling, level with the foremost animals, and then, 

 dropping on my knees, crept close up to the still 

 unconscious herd. The nearest buffalo to me was 

 a bull with rather a fine head, so, as he was facing 

 nearly straight away from me, I put a ball from my 

 lo-bore just behind his ribs, aiming obliquely for- 

 wards, so that the bullet might pierce both lungs. 

 Like lightnine: the herd wheeled round, and rushed 

 off in mad affright. I followed at my best pace, 

 both gun-carriers well up. 



After running about 400 yards my bull fell dead. 

 Then the herd turned and looked towards me, and 1 

 struck a cow right in the chest with my Express, 

 and got another shot into a bull with the 10. He 

 at once turned out, and soon settled to a trot. I 

 followed, and hearing me running behind him, he 



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