A THRILLING MOMENT 147 



his rifle. When the photographing was over, we 

 would kill a buffalo or two for T , who was in 

 need of the value of their skins. 



' We came across fresh buffalo tracks an hour 

 after leaving camp, and in another hour came up to 

 some eight or nine animals lying down in a little 

 clearing in the bush, looking like the big black 

 boulders of which this country is full ; and it was 

 only when examined with glasses that the boulders 

 were proved to be buffalo. 



" I was very keen on creeping up to the herd 

 and taking photographs at once, and had started 

 preparing my camera, when T - begged me to 

 let the dogs ' hold the herd,' as he feared they 

 might get our wind and bolt. I agreed very 

 reluctantly, as the chance of getting buffalo in open 

 bush, and asleep, appeared ideal for a stalk with 

 a camera. 



" T- let loose the hounds when the ' Reflex ' 

 camera had been strapped to my body, and 

 extended out ready for instant action. When 

 the dogs reached them the buffalo jumped up, but 

 instead of standing at bay, bolted, the bulk of them 

 running away from us. Three of them, two cows 

 and a big calf, galloped towards us with the dogs 

 after them. I began to focus on the leading 



<> O 



buffalo, a big cow, which was difficult to photo- 

 graph, as she came fast towards me, necessitating 

 constant change of focus. Her image in the mirror 

 of the ' Reflex ' camera was getting bigger and 



o o o 



bigger, as I struggled to adjust the focusing screw, 

 and extend the bellows to keep the focus. 



'' The photo was never taken, for I heard u 



