Soldiering and Sport in Uganda 



narrow escape from being ridden down by the 

 infuriated herd. An illustration of a buffalo lying 

 prone, with a mortal wound, is given. 



I left the native hunter to search for the buffalo 

 that was done for, with instructions to bring more 

 ammunition along when he had located it. I then 

 followed up the herd. I got a clear view of them, 

 all huddled together on the sky-line. I lay down 

 against an ant-heap to take a shot at the leader, a 

 splendid looking old specimen. At that moment 

 the herd became suspicious, and started to trot 

 towards my position. I fired, but must have 

 over-estimated the distance, as I hit my fellow 

 rather high in the shoulder. He hobbled off on 

 three legs, but so fast that he was soon out of sight. 

 We tracked him by the trail of blood for some 

 considerable distance, but as he had gone over a 

 lot of burnt grass, it was difficult in the extreme to 

 follow him. The day was drawing to a close, so I 

 had to give up and wander back to camp, very 

 disconsolate. My annoyance may be imagined, 

 when on arrival I discovered the native hunter 

 had never troubled himself to see about the badly 

 wounded buffalo, or the ammunition either, but had 

 beaten an immediate retreat to camp. 



I could not be very angry with him for return- 

 ing, as I had been in such a mortal fright myself. 

 I sent back some natives to search, but I fear the 

 poor beast must have died a lonely death in some 

 unfrequented spot, as they were not successful; it 

 was too badly hit to have lived. 



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