IX OUR CAMP BY THE THIKA RIVER 107 



heartily at our dripping comrade, and chafY him un- 

 mercifully about his knowledge of African fords. 



Eventually we separated and rode in pairs in 

 quest of the buffalo. My companion and I had 

 excellent sport, and, moreover, had the good fortune 

 to come upon the herd, some two hundred strong. 

 The buffalo continued to graze peacefully while we 

 did a most painstaking stalk through bush and scrub, 

 and along the rough bottom of a shallow donga, 

 which eventually brought us quite close to a couple 

 of magnificent bulls that had straggled a little way 

 from the main body. We were only waiting for them 

 to give a favourable turn so that they might expose 

 a vital spot, when suddenly a waterbuck burst at full 

 speed out of the donga in front of us, and, careering 

 into the midst of the buffalo, startled them so much 

 that the whole herd thundered off in a cloud of dust. 

 We heartily blessed that waterbuck as we again 

 painfully followed the spoor, and saw that there was 

 very little chance of our ever again being able to 

 get into such a favourable position. 



Later on I spied a solitary bull buffalo, and 

 thought I could run him down on my pony. My 

 companion said it would be impossible to do this, 

 so there was only one way to test our argument, 

 and that was to try. Accordingly off I started on 

 the trail of the buffalo, which had a lead of some 

 400 yards. Fortunately, it was clear open country 

 without a bush or tree of any kind for at least a 



