THE CAPE BUFFALO. 215 



his tongue, until he is shockingly mutilated. He is one of 

 the few animals which seem to cherish the spirit of revenge. 

 Hunting the Mr. Pringle gives the following description of 

 Cape Buffalo. a Cape Buffalo hunt. " A party of boers had 

 gone out to hunt a herd of buffaloes which were grazing on 

 a piece of marshy ground. As they could not get within shot 

 of the game without crossing part of the marsh, which was 

 not safe for the horses, they agreed to leave them in charge 

 of the Hottentots, and advance on foot, thinking that if any 

 of the buffaloes should turn upon them, it would be easy to 

 escape by retreating across the quagmire, which, though 

 passable for man, would not support the weight of a heavy 

 quadruped. They advanced accordingly, and, under a covert 

 of the bushes, approached the game with such advantage that 

 the first volley brought down three of the fattest of the herd, 

 and so severely wounded the great bull leader that he dropped 

 on his knees, bellowing furiously. Thinking him mortally 

 wounded, the foremost of the huntsmen issued from the covert, 

 and began reloading his musket as he advanced to give him 

 a finishing shot. But no sooner did the infuriated animal 

 see his foe in front of him, than he sprang up and rushed 

 headlong upon him. The man, throwing down his heavy 

 gun, fled towards the quagmire; but the beast was so close 

 upon him that he despaired of escaping in that direction, 

 and turning suddenly round a clump of copsewood, began 

 to climb an old mimosa tree which stood at one side of it. 

 The raging beast, however, was too quick for him. Bound- 

 ing forward with a roar which my informant described as 

 being one of the most frightful sounds he ever heard, he 

 caught the unfortunate man with his terrible horns just as 

 he had nearly escaped his reach, and tossed him into the 

 air with such force that the body fell, dreadfully mangled, 

 into a cleft of the tree. The buffalo ran round the tree once 

 or twice, apparently looking for the man, until, weakened 

 with loss of blood, he again sank on his knees. The rest 



