THE CAPE BUFFALO 89 



summer house ; while in the wet season the long 

 grass on the plains (attaining a height of six or eight 

 feet) conceals the herd as effectually as in England 

 the June herbage shelters the hare. Buffalo wallow 

 frequently and bathe much, lying motionless hour 

 after hour with the head alone above the surface, 

 more like lumps of clay than living creatures. These 

 animals go in herds of from fifty to two or even three 

 hundred individuals. The young are born from 

 January to April, and only one calf is produced at a 

 birth ; they are easily tamed, but very difficult to 

 rear, since they are liable to take cold and also care 

 little for cows' milk. The domestication of the 

 African buffalo on lines similar to that of the long- 

 horned buffalo of India has, however, been suggested. 

 Early dawn in the yellowwood thickets. A 

 herd of buffalo slowly pasture through the more 

 open glades, their huge helmeted heads closely 

 applied to the greensward, and their long tails 

 swishing about their sable flanks. Along the 

 backs of these wild cattle run the rhinoceros birds, 

 smart and starling-like, pausing every now and 

 then to prise a tick out of the hide. Save for an 

 occasional grunt, not a sound is uttered by the 

 dusky herd ; all is silent and peaceful in the fast- 

 growing sunshine. Others besides buffaloes are 

 abroad in the forest. A honey-guide wings its 

 undulating flight into the scrub ; a flock of mouse- 

 birds fly like arrows into the trees, jerking up their 



