BRITISH EAST AFRICA 219 



sight by this time. I do not think that buffaloes 

 can have anything very extraordinary in the way 

 of sight ; no deer nor antelope would have stayed 

 a moment if they had been in this cow's place. It 

 was the most exciting moment I ever experienced. 

 She gave a prolonged stare at our bush, which only 

 consisted of a few dead twigs, and fed on. Two young 

 bulls were nosing each other's backs ; an inquisitive 

 calf came sniffing round the heels of an irritable old 

 cow where he had no business, got a kick, from the 

 old lady for his pains, and then over a small rise, 

 half hidden in the burnt scrub, came a bull. He 

 walked quietly along, about forty yards off. I dared 

 not wait, as the next step would have brought the 

 old cow right on top of us. His head was hidden 

 by the flank of another beast but I could see his 

 shoulder, and so, with an inward prayer, fired. I 

 have a confused recollection of giving him the second 

 barrel as a cloud of dust and vanishing heels swept 

 past me. Pandemonium raged for a few brief seconds, 

 and then in an astonishingly short space of time 

 there was dead silence. Only a drifting cloud of 

 dust was there to tell us of the buffalo's presence 

 at all. We crept round the corner, hoping to see 

 the bull lying on his side kicking. Absolutely no- 

 thing presented itself, save a blank and uninviting 

 wall of bush. My hopes sank but revived immediately 

 as a grunting cough came from behind the leafy 

 screen. Hassan declared he could see the bull looking 

 very sick and walking slowly forward. We all went 



