

chap. vi. BUFFALO-SHOOTING AT MINNERIA LAKE. 131 



through his neck and broke his spine. I immediately 

 commenced reloading, but the ball was only half-way 

 down the barrel when the remaining bull, undismayed 

 by the fate of his companion, rushed on at full speed. 

 Snatching the long two-ounce rifle from a gun-bearer, 

 I made a lucky shot. The ball must have passed 

 through his heart, as he fell stone dead. 



The three cows remained passive spectators of the 

 death of their mates, although I was convinced by their 

 expression that they would eventually show fight. I 

 was soon reloaded, and not wishing to act simply on 

 the defensive, and thus run the risk of a simultaneous 

 onset, I fired at the throat of the most vicious of the 

 party. The two-ounce ball produced no other effect 

 than an immediate charge. She bounded towards me, 

 and, although bleeding at the mouth, the distance was 

 so short that she would have been into me had I not 

 stopped her with the four-ounce rifle, which brought 

 her to the ground when within fifteen paces ; here she 

 lay disabled, but not dead, and again I reloaded as fast 

 as possible. 



The two remaining cows appeared to have taken 

 a lesson from the fate of their comrades ; and showing 

 no disposition to charge, I advanced towards them to 

 within twenty yards. One of the cows now com- 

 menced tearing the muddy ground with her horns, and 

 thus offered a certain shot, which I accordingly took, 

 and dropped her dead with a ball in the nape of the 



