212 STALKS ABROAD 



tribe in East Africa. A few days afterwards two 

 of them turned up and promised to show us buffalo. 

 The following day was Sunday, so we had a rest 

 and I made some sketches. 



On the Monday morning we sallied out accom- 

 panied by the Wa 'Ndorobo. I had no luck, though 

 I gained in experience ; but Burton had the good 

 fortune to kill an old bull within two hours of leaving 

 camp. 



It was dark when we started, though by the 

 time we reached the summit of a hill which rose 

 behind the camp, the dawn was breaking. As we 

 passed along the edge of a thick belt of trees some- 

 thing moved close at hand. Hassan wanted to 

 plunge into the bushes, which would have been abso- 

 lutely idiotic, apart from any danger, as we could 

 not have seen a yard. We accordingly waited, and 

 as the light grew stronger went on. Presently a 

 large clearing opened out before us, covered with 

 dead and dying forest giants, here standing gaunt 

 and upright, there mouldering to dust, the last 

 survivors of some forgotten fire. Bracken, tall, brown, 

 and withered, rose high as we ourselves, mingling 

 with yellow grasses ; but in the far shadows I saw 

 something black move and caught sight of a shiny 

 body. From behind a withered tree a dark mass 

 protruded, which at last shaped itself into the head 

 of a buffalo. Hassan gaily advanced until he got 

 a dig in the ribs which, in nautical language, brought 

 him up with a round turn. The head still remained, 



