HUNTING THE BUFFALO 266 



oprd . the front part perhaps of koodoo, or hartebeest, or bushbuck 

 r>nd the back of the shoe of lion, or hyaana, or sabln antelope, while 

 the rheimpy or. thread with which the whole was sewed consisted 

 of a th ; n strip of the skin of a steinbok. 



On the forenoon of the 26th I rode forth to hunt, accompanied 

 by Ruyter ; we held west, skirting the wooded stony mountains. 

 The natives had here many years before waged successful war 

 with elephants, four of whose skulls I found. Presently I camo 

 across two sassaybies, one of which I knocked over ; but while I 

 was loading he regained his legs and made off. We crossed a 

 level stretch of forest, holding a northerly course for an opposite 

 range of green, well-wooded hills and valleys. Here I came upon a 

 noop of six fine old bull buffaloes, into which I stalked, and wounded 

 one princely fellow very severely behind the shoulder, bringing 

 blood from his mouth ; he, however, made off with his comrades, and, 

 the ground being very rough we failed to overtake him. They 

 held for the Ngotwani. After following the spoor for a couple of 

 miles, we dropped it, as it led right away from camp. 



Returning from this chase, we had an adventure with another 

 old bull buffalo, which shows the extreme danger of hunting buf- 

 faloes without dogs. We started him in a green hollow among 

 the hills, and his course inclining for camp, I gave him chase. 

 He crossed the level broad strath and made for the opposite dense- 

 ly-wooded range of mountains. Along the base of these we 

 followed him, sometimes in view, sometimes on the spoor, keeping 

 the eld fellow at a pace which made him pant. Ai length, finding 

 himself much distressed, he had recourse to a singular stratagem. 

 Doubling round some thick bushes which obscured him from our 

 view, he found himself beside a small pool of rain water, just deep 

 enough to cover his body ; into this he walked, and, facing about, 

 lay gently down and awaited our on-coming, with nothing but h* 

 old grey face and massive horns above the water, and these con- 

 cealed ,Yom view by rank overhanging herbage. 



Our attention was entirely engrossed with the spoor, and thus 

 we rode boldly on until within a few feet of him, when springing 

 to his feet, he made a desperate charge after Ruyter, uttei.ngf 



