MOTIONLESS GAME AMONG THICK BUSH. 163 



description of wild animal. This is so clearly shown 

 by the unanimous testimony of so many hunters of 

 .authority, that we conceive it to be unnecessary to 

 do more than state the mere fact that it is so. From 

 Africa, from India, and indeed from every country where 

 wild buffalo exist, this is the conclusion arrived at by 

 nearly every sportsman of experience. 



A wounded buffalo is an adept at hiding, and will 

 lie in wait in thick bush for the unwary hunter, as a 

 cat does for a mouse; if on the other hand he desires 

 to escape, the clever and noiseless way in which these 

 great animals will effect their retreat is often astonish- 

 ing. Under such circumstances not only the buffalo, but 

 all the heaviest game will often noiselessly vanish from 

 sight, as if they had actually disappeared into the ground. 



Thus Mr. Selous, in his book on African hunting, 

 has related a very characteristic incident of this kind, 

 where a large bull elephant suddenly disappeared from 

 close beside him in this remarkable manner. 



" A short distance from the edge (he says) the jungle became 

 exceedingly dense and about 20 feet high. I was creeping 

 forward step by step, when one of my bushmen touched me 

 gently on the arm and following the direction of his hand 

 and eyes, I beheld the dim outline of an elephant towering 

 through the dense sombre-coloured leafless bush. After I had 

 once seen him, it was easy enough to make him out, for he 

 was not over 15 yards from me." Just then some shots 

 fired by other members of the party startled him, and Mr. 

 Selous states " Before I could raise the gun to my shoulder, 

 the huge beast wheeled round, and was off a hare could 

 not have turned and got under way more expeditiously, or 

 more silently." * 



* A Himter's Wanderings in Africa, Five Years amongst the 

 Game of the Far Interior, by Fredk. C. Selous, 1 88 1, p. 104. 



