Hunting in Many Lands 



ing. I could see nothing, but my ears were 

 filled with the noise. The uproar ceased, and 

 I asked the negro in the tree what had hap- 

 pened. He said, when he first climbed the tree 

 he could see the bushes in our front move like 

 the waves of the sea, and then. Ham delillah — 

 praise be to God — the buffalo turned on either 

 side and left our little opening safe. Had they 

 not turned, but charged straight at us, I fancy 

 I should have had a disagreeable moment. As 

 it was, I began to understand why buffalo shoot- 

 ing in the bush has been always considered un- 

 safe, and began to regret that the road back to 

 the open plain was not a shorter one. We 

 reached it in safety, however, and, after a short 

 rest, set out up wind. 



I got a hartbeest and an mpallah before 

 noon, and then, satisfied with my day, returned 

 to camp. By 4 p. m. my men had brought in 

 all the meat, and soon the little camp was filled 

 with strips of fresh meat hanging on ropes of 

 twisted bark. The next day we exchanged the 

 meat for flour, beans, pumpkins and Indian 

 corn. I remained in this camp three more days 

 and then returned to Taveta. Each one of 

 these days I attempted to get a shot at buffalo, 

 but never managed it. On one occasion I 



32 



