A BUFFALO-HUNT BY THE KAMITI 135 



sionally the whereabouts of the herd in the papyrus swamp 

 could be determined by seeing the flock of herons perched 

 on the papyrus tops. We did not see any of the red-billed 

 tick-birds on the buffalo; indeed, the only ones that we saw 

 in this neighborhood happened to be on domestic cattle 

 in other places we found them very common on rhinoceros. 

 At night the buffalo sometimes came right into the cultivated 

 fields, and even into the garden close by the Boer farmer's 

 house; and once at night he had shot a bull. The bullet 

 went through the heart but the animal ran to the papyrus 

 swamp, and was found next day dead just within the edge. 

 Usually the main herd, of bulls, cows, and calves, kept to- 

 gether; but there were outlying bulls found singly or in 

 small parties. Not only the natives but the whites were in- 

 clined to avoid the immediate neighborhood of the papy- 

 rus swamp, for there had been one or two narrow escapes 

 from unprovoked attacks by the buffalo. The farmer told 

 us that a man who was coming to see him had been regu- 

 larly followed by three bulls, who pursued him for quite a 

 distance. There is no doubt that under certain circum- 

 stances buffalo, in addition to showing themselves exceed- 

 ingly dangerous opponents when wounded by hunters, be- 

 come truculent and inclined to take the offensive themselves. 

 There are places in East Africa where as regards at least 

 certain herds this seems to be the case; and in Uganda the 

 buffalo have caused such loss of life, and such damage to the 

 native plantations, that they are now ranked as vermin and 

 not as game, and their killing is encouraged in every possi- 

 ble way. The list of white hunters that have been killed 

 by buffalo is very long, and includes a number of men of 

 note, while accidents to natives are of constant occurrence. 



