SASSAYBIES AND BUFFALOES. 281 



were worthy of a sportsman, being light, yet strong, 

 and were entirely composed of the skins of game of my 

 shooting. The soles were made of either buffalo or 

 camelopard ; the front part perhaps of koodoo, or harte- 

 beest, or bushbuck, and the back of the shoe of lion, or 

 hysena, or sable antelope, while the rheimpy or thread 

 with which the whole was sewed consisted of a thin 

 strip of the skin of a steinbok. 



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

 companied 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 came across two 

 sassaybies, one of which I knocked over ; but while 1 

 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 troop of six fine old 

 bull buffaloes, into which I stalked, and wounded one 

 princely fellow very severely behind the shoulder, bring- 

 ing 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 buffaloes 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 densely- 

 wooded range of mountains. Along the base of these 

 we followed him, sometimes in view, sometimes on tho 

 epoor, keeping the old fellow at a pace which made him 



