AFRICAN B UFFALO 8 1 



buffalo, without or with Httle danger, it would be dangerous to follow 

 a wounded lion ; whilst in ground where it would be really dangerous 

 to follow a wounded buffalo, it would be more dangerous still to 

 follow a wounded lion — at any rate in South Africa, where wounded 

 lions are always likely to charge. I have not found old buffalo bulls 

 more inclined to charge when wounded than herd-animals, and con- 

 sider young bulls when nearly, but not quite, full-grown the readiest 

 to resent ill-treatment. It must, however, be confessed that an old 

 buffalo bull when disturbed, and standing with nose upraised, gazing 

 fixedly at the intruder upon its solitude, with eyes glowing sullen and 

 gloomy beneath the massive horns, has all the appearance of a savage 

 and dangerous animal, though, as a matter of fact, in the great majority 

 of cases, it is neither one nor the other, but merely ignorant and 

 inquisitive, never having previously seen a man in hat and clothes. 

 A little hunting causes bulls to give up this bold and truculent bearing ; 

 and they soon learn to run off as soon as they can make out a man 

 approaching. Nothing made of flesh and blood in South Africa is 

 more tenacious of life than a buffalo, though of course nothing can 

 long survive a shot through the upper part of the heart or the big 

 blood-vessels of both lungs. 



" The latter is, I think, the better shot, as the wounded animal 

 can be easily tracked by the blood from the mouth and nostrils. 

 Should a buffalo, when fired at, drop instantly, it is unwise to approach 

 incautiously with an unloaded rifle, for, if only momentarily paralysed 

 by the shot having grazed the vertebral column in the neck or along 

 the back, it may recover and spring to its feet at any moment. If it 

 does so, it is pretty sure to charge any one that may be close at hand. 

 When a buffalo rises, he gets on his hind-feet first, and this sometimes 

 gives time to fire at the head or chest before the animal can get into 

 a standing position. A dying buffalo nearly always gives vent to 

 several moaning bellows, which can be heard at a considerable distance, 

 and when once heard will never be forgotten. 



" I once heard a calf, separated from its mother, calling very much 

 like the calf of a domesticated cow ; but as a rule buffaloes are silent. 

 I have often listened for an hour at a time to large herds feeding at 

 night within a few hundred yards of my camp, and never heard any 

 sound but an occasional short grunt, though I have heard a buffalo, 

 when attacked by lions, bellow like an ox. Buffaloes are strong 

 swimmers and take to the water readily, either to escape danger or in 

 search of pasture ; swimming low in the water, with only the eyes, 

 nostrils, and part of the horns and hind-quarters above the surface. 



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