SPORT IN MOZAMBIQUE 



to kill it outright ; after which, taking advantage of 

 the stupefaction of the rest, I shall try to shoot 

 another beast. I had put several balls in my Mann- 

 licher. At the shot the animal selected does not fall. 

 Making a half-turn, the whole troop charges towards 

 me at a gallop, the heifer being wounded in the head. 

 I send a second ball at her chest which does not stop 

 her. The whole band files obliquely past me at a 

 distance of twenty paces, and I have time to fire and 

 wound in the neck the bull and one cow. Sad at not 

 having dropped one head, I proceed to examine the 

 trail, upon which I detect blood. At this moment 

 I hear a crash on my left ; I advance, and find the 

 animal, which had been wounded twice, lying dead. 

 The first ball had penetrated the neck, breaking the 

 right transverse process of one of the vertebrae without 

 disarticulating the spinal column. The second, entering 

 at the chest, had traversed the heart and stopped 

 near the loins. 



I send one of my men to Guengere to bring my break- 

 fast, my photographic apparatus, and some porters ; 

 after which, with Chassahucca, I follow the wounded, 

 animal. In about half-an-hour we arrive at a ravine 

 choked with dense vegetation. The tracks disappear, 

 and I am just about to open my mouth to tell my man 

 that we had better go back, in order to see whether 

 the animals have come out, when I see him throw 

 up his rifle and fire. The smoke comes in my direction, 

 and prevents me from seeing distinctly ; nevertheless 



(74) 



