Big Game Shooting 



Since then, in much the same swampy, marshy 

 country as is depicted in the sketch hereafter, 

 I have been mixed up in small herds, biggish 

 herds, and two or three at a time. Often whilst 

 walking along in buffalo country one would "get 

 up ' with a rush and a snort from the opposite 

 side of the very bush I was creeping round on all 

 fours. 



The sum total of it all is, that when unwounded 

 an African buffalo runs away as an almost certain 

 rule. If he is hit anywhere whilst running away, 

 beware ! He goes on, and retracing his steps 

 parallel to his path, lies up within two or three 

 yards of his former tracks. His idea is — and 

 a very good one too — that the sportsman with 

 the rifle has him on toast in ordinary country. 

 He therefore disappears hurriedly to what he 

 knows is the country that suits him — in other 

 words, swamp with plenty of clinging mud and 

 a bit of water, and reeds fifteen to twenty feet high 

 — so that he can meet his pursuer on even terms. 

 If you follow him you can see nothing one short 

 yard on either side, whereas with his sense of 

 smell, to say nothing of sound, you are charged 

 before you can say knife. If he is hit charging 

 and not knocked down, he may come on and 

 will do a little hunting of the hunter, but a second 

 bullet in a nasty place may turn him. The 

 buffalo has the most extraordinary vitality. 



They feed and water at night, and wander in 



114 



