CHAP, xiv THE BUFFALO 267 



and meet at the base across the forehead. No. 2 has flat-fronted 

 horns, very broad, but they do not actually unite across the front 

 of the skull. 



There is also a species which is quite distinct ; this is the Bos 

 Irachyceros, or short-horned buffalo. This is found upon the West 

 Coast of Africa, and is very beautiful. It is a fawn colour, with a 

 tinge of dark chestnut, and about the size of a Jersey bull. The 

 ears are long, and are tipped with a long tuft of hair ; the eyes are 

 large, the head remarkably small, and delicately shaped : the horns 

 are about 12 inches long, broad at the base, without much curve, 

 and sharp at the points. The hair of the body is short and smooth, 

 like an English cow in summer condition, and the dewlap is soft and 

 large. The tail is long, with a black tuft of hair at the extremity. 



Like all the Bos tribe, the bull is savage when provoked. My 

 nephew, Commander Julian A. Baker, R.N., nearly lost his life in 

 an encounter with one of these animals. He was at that time in 

 command of the Foam on the West Coast of Africa, and he had 

 landed at some convenient spot, from which he strolled inland, 

 accompanied by a faithful Kruman as a shikari : this man carried 

 a spare rifle. They had not gone far when he observed a bull 

 grazing in a narrow glade, and upon firing within 100 yards, the 

 animal fell, and blundered into a small bush. Being rather excited 

 with the novelty of a strange species, he ran up to the place where 

 the bull had fallen ; but no sooner had he reached the spot than the 

 beast that he had supposed to be dead, or dying, charged furiously 

 at him from the impervious cover which had sheltered it. His 

 rifle missed fire, and in another moment the bull thrust one horn 

 into his thigh, and lifted him off the ground. He was in this 

 manner thrown upwards, and found himself fixed securely upon the 

 animal's head. Fortunately he was well practised at acrobatic 

 feats, and in this dilemma he managed to hold on to one horn, and 

 to disengage his perforated thigh from the other, falling to the 

 ground the instant that his leg was released ; but he never relaxed 

 his hold of the right horn. He was now upon his back, with the 

 infuriated bull attempting to gore him as he lay, but with great 

 presence of mind he remembered the plan used in Africa for throw- 

 ing oxen ; and bringing his full weight to bear, by pulling with his 

 right hand upon the animal's left horn, he twisted the nose with 

 his left hand upwards in a contrary direction, thus exerting the 

 greatest leverage upon the neck. In this manner he was able to 

 prevent the horns from entering his chest, and, knowing that the 

 bull was shot through the shoulder, he trusted that it could not 

 survive a sufficient time to complete his destruction. In the 



