A PANIC IN DOUBT— A BUFFALO KILLED. 463 



heavy rifle of mine, and wishing to get possession of it, I fol- 

 lowed in their footsteps. But this made bad worse ; for, see- 

 ing me also running, and thinking the enemy was at their 

 heels, they redoubled their pace, nor did they stop until at 

 a most respectful distance from the thicket. It was really 

 absurd to see us thus endeavoring to outrun each other. 



Havino; at leno-th overtaken the men and secured m\ 

 rifle, I returned to the spot whence I had first observed the 

 suspicious objects ; but, though I approached to within a 

 dozen paces of them, I was unable, from the denseness of 

 the cover, to make out their identity. 



A tree was hard by; and, in the hope of obtaining a 

 better view, I at once ascended it. But in this matter I was 

 disappointed, for even when thus elevated I could see no 

 better than from the ground. As the only mode left me of 

 satisfying my doubts, I now fired into the midst of the dark 

 objects in question ; but not a living thing stirred- For a 

 moment I fancied I must have been in error, and that what 

 I had taken for animals were neither more nor less than 

 huge stones. However, to set the point at rest, after reload- 

 ing, I sent a second ball in the same direction as the first, 

 and this time to some purpose, for at the report of the gun 

 up sprung to their feet four magnificent male buffaloes ; and 

 after tossing their heads proudly, and sniffing the air for a 

 moment, they broke cover in good style, and, to all appear- 

 ance, unhurt. I never saw them again. 



Following leisurely on their tracks in order to ascertain 

 whether any of the beasts were hurt, a herd of buffaloes — at 

 least two hundred in number — suddenly rushed past us with 

 the violence of a tornado, breaking down and crashing every 

 thing that opposed their headlong career, and raising so 

 great a cloud of dust as nearly to conceal their dark forms 

 from view. I fired into the midst of them at random, and 

 had the satisfaction to see a cow drop to the shot. 



The report of the rifle brought the whole herd almost im- 



