84 IN BRIGHTEST AFRICA 
my approach, I came on to a large herd of eland, and 
my first fear was that I had mistaken eland for buf- 
faloes. 
Going farther on, however, we saw a herd of about 
five hundred buffaloes lying up in a few scattered 
thorn trees four or five hundred yards away. At 
first it seemed an almost impossible situation. There 
was practically 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 buffaloes led me to 
be extremely cautious. We worked around the herd 
trying to find some place where a safe approach might 
be made. Finally, seeing a little band of a dozen 
buffaloes off at one side on the bank of a ravine which 
offered splendid protection, we stalked 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. JI 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, like the Aberdare elephants, had had little 
or no experience with men, and that there was per- 
haps 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 the aid of 
glasses. I carefully located a fine bull and then shot, 
