THE AFRICAN OR CAPE BUFFALO 



bearer behind, exchanging with him the .405 Winchester, 

 which I had been carrying up to that time, for the big 

 .577 Express. This evidently much pleased my Wando- 

 robo, as the size and weight of this weapon, by the natives 

 generally called " msinga " (cannon), had greatly im- 

 pressed him. 



On we went, nearer and nearer to the big tree. Sud- 

 denly there was a loud snort, followed by angry grunts, 

 only some twelve to fifteen yards away! In another in- 

 stant the whole buffalo herd rushed up and crashed 

 through the bush in a mad rush for safety ! So dense was 

 the jungle, that although the nearest animal could not 

 have been more than twelve yards away from us, and we 

 could even see the tops of the bushes and trees move as 

 the beasts pressed by — it was absolutely impossible to 

 get a glimpse of a single animal, notwithstanding the 

 fact that I flung myself after them as fast as I knew how, 

 receiving cuts and bruises from thorns and larger branches 

 in my path, as I ran blindly through the thickets in a vain 

 attempt to be able to sight one of the fleeing beasts. The 

 wind must have changed to another direction at the last 

 moment, or we made some noise, unnoticed by ourselves, 

 which frightened the herd. However this may be, the 

 buffaloes had vanished, and we, sad and weary, had to give 

 up the chase, reaching camp just as the sun went down. 



On another occasion I was more fortunate. We had 

 found fresh buffalo tracks on one of the foothills of 

 Mt. Kenia, at an altitude of somewhat over eight thousand 

 feet. Magnificent cedars, with their straight trunks, in- 

 termingling with enormous deciduous trees of different 

 kinds, composed this forest, the undergrowth of which 

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