A BUFFALO-HUNT BY THE KAMITI 133 



a half beyond our camp, down the course of the Kamiti, 

 the grassland at the edge of the papyrus was thickly strewn 

 with these dancing-rings. Each was about two feet in di- 

 ameter, sometimes more, sometimes less. A tuft of grow- 

 ing grass perhaps a foot high was left in the centre. Over 

 the rest of the ring the grass was cut off close by the roots, 

 and the blades strewn evenly over the surface of the ring. 

 The cock bird would alight in the ring and hop to a 

 height of a couple of feet, wings spread and motionless, tail 

 drooping, and the head usually thrown back. As he came 

 down he might or might not give an extra couple of little 

 hops. After a few seconds he would repeat the motion, 

 sometimes remaining almost in the same place, at other 

 times going forward during and between the hops so as 

 finally to go completely round the ring. As there were 

 many scores of these dancing-places within a compara- 

 tively limited territory, the effect was rather striking when 

 a large number of birds were dancing at the same time. As 

 one walked along, the impression conveyed by the birds 

 continually popping above the grass and then immediately 

 sinking back, was somewhat as if a man was making peas 

 jump in a tin tray by tapping on it. The favorite dancing 

 times were in the early morning, and, to a less extent, in the 

 evening. We saw dancing-places of every age, some with 

 the cut grass which strewed the floor green and fresh, 

 others with the grass dried into hay and the bare earth 

 showing through. 



But the garne we were after was the buffalo herd that 

 haunted the papyrus swamp. As I have said before, the 

 buffalo is by many hunters esteemed the most dangerous of 

 African game. It is an enormously powerful beast with, in 



