HUNTING THE AFRICAN BUFFALO 
I came on to a large herd of eland, and 
my first fear was that I had mistaken 
eland for buffalo. 
Going farther on the high land how- 
ever, we saw a herd of about five hundred 
buffalo lying up in a few scattered thorn 
trees, some four or five hundred yards 
away. At first it seemed an almost 
impossible situation. There was prac- 
tically no cover and no means of escape 
in case the herd detected us and saw 
fit to charge and at that time my respect 
for the buffalo led me to be extremely 
cautious. We worked around the herd 
trying to find some place where a safe 
approach might be made. Finally see- 
ing a little band of a dozen buffalo off 
at one side on the bank of a ravine which 
offered splendid protection, we stalked 
157 
them but unfortunately not one in the 
band was desirable as a_ specimen. 
Since this was so, I tried them out, giving 
them my wind, then going up where they 
could see me better. I found that they 
were quite indifferent either to the scent 
or the sight of man. They finally moved 
off quietly without alarm. I then knew 
that this herd had had no experience of 
men or hunters, and that there was 
perhaps less to fear from them than from 
the traditional buffalo of the sportsman. 
So going back to the main herd, I crept 
up boldly to within a hundred yards of 
them. They saw me, faced about, 
closely inspecting me, but with no sign of 
alarm. It was approaching dusk and in 
this great black mass it was difficult to 
pick out a good pair of horns except with 
Rhinos in buffalo country. 
as many as twenty or thirty were encountered in a single day 
Rhinos may be greatly in the way in buffalo-hunting. 
Sometimes 
