CHAP. i. BUFFALO. 15 



little boy, had sat down here to rest, and, sitting on the 

 edge of the bank, had allowed his feet to dangle down. 

 As the boy afterwards related, he suddenly saw a lion 

 below them, and while he was still speechless with terror 

 he saw it jump up, as a cat would at a low-flying bird, 

 and catching his companion's feet in its fore-paws, drag 

 him shrieking down. His cries soon ceased, and the 

 scared little nigger, terrified out of his senses, made the 

 best of his way from the ill-omened spot. It is only an 

 instance of one out of hundreds of similar stories that 

 might be collected from these natives relative to their 

 losses from wild beasts. 



I had gone about a mile when I crossed the spoor of 

 two buffaloes, seemingly on their way to water, and turn- 

 ing off, I followed them down through the reeds to where 

 they had drunk. I found that they had crossed over, 

 and in consequence had to do so myself. This is a point 

 in which the unshod native possesses a marked advantage. 

 Much valuable time is often consumed in taking off one's 

 shoes and stockings, and if, in the hurry of the moment, 

 one neglects to do so, the continual squish-squash of the 

 water afterwards makes a noise anything but conducive 

 to silent stalking. I found that the best plan was to 

 make two great gashes in the sides of my shoes, which 

 allowed the water to escape at once, as, even if there are 

 no rivers to cross, as is often the case in Africa, the heavy 

 dew wets almost equally as much. On resuming the 

 spoor I found that the buffaloes, after quenching their 

 thirst, had gone into the reeds, so, making one or two 

 well-known bird-calls to inform my companion of my 

 whereabouts, and also that I was " on spoor," I followed 



