chap. in. LONG SHOT WITH THE FOUR-OUNCE. 4c 



the peacocks were shrieking from the tree-tops and 

 spreading their gaudy plumage to the cool breeze ; 

 and the whole face of nature seemed refreshed. We 

 felt the same invigorating spirit, and we took a long 

 survey of the many herds of buffaloes upon the 

 plain before we could determine which we should first 

 attack. 



A large single bull, who had been lying in a 

 swampy hollow unobserved by us, suddenly sprang up 

 at about three hundred yards' distance, and slowly 

 cantered off. I tried the long two-ounce rifle at him, 

 but, taking too great an elevation, I fired over him. 

 The report, however, had the effect of turning him 

 and, instead of retreating, he wheeled round and at- 

 tempted to pass between the guns and the banks of 

 the lake. We were about three hundred yards from 

 the water's edge, and he was soon passing us at full 

 gallop at right angles, about midway or a hundred 

 and fifty yards distant. 



I had twelve drachms of powder in the four-ounce 

 rifle, and I took a flying shot at his shoulder. No 

 visible effect was produced, and the ball ricochetted 

 completely across the broad surface of the lake (which 

 was no more than a mile wide at this part) in con- 

 tinuous splashes. The gun-bearers said I had fired 

 behind him, but I had distinctly heard the peculiar 

 'fut' which a ball makes upon striking an animal, 

 and although the passage of the ball across the lake 



