With Flashlight and Rifle -* 



and waving of the green stems ; but even from my high 

 look-out I could only now and again get a momentary 

 glance at one or other of the immense horns of the black 

 beasts. Soon they had disappeared. I now saw that it 

 would be impossible to hunt them in such a place. With 

 difficulty I climbed down from the high tree. It is no 

 fun to climb a tropical thorn-tree. A very short stay 

 among its branches gives a very unpleasant close acquaint- 

 ance with all kinds of ants, whose bites do not have much 

 effect on the leathern skin of the black, but have a very 

 serious one on the tender skin of the European. 



Two more days passed in patient waiting. At least the 

 buffaloes left fresh traces every morning, and did not 

 change their haunts as I had feared. The plague of ticks 

 was becoming daily more unbearable for us Europeans, and 

 at night there was no sleep because ot our wounded 

 skins. At last, one very cloudy day at noon, we found a 

 large herd grazing on a grass-patch just within the marsh, 

 and only a few yards from the thick reeds. It meant 

 wading through some of the swampy channels to reach 

 them. There was no cover for us nothing but the reeds. 

 There were some moments of the greatest suspense as, 

 on nearing the herd, I had the opportunity of observing 

 the imposing picture made by some sixty head of these 

 wild cattle, now, unluckily, so rare. Tame cattle I was 

 inclined to characterise them, despite their ferocious 

 appearance. The thick mass of the black, closely packed 

 forms as they zealously cropped just in front of me had 

 something grand and impressive about it. But now I had 

 to decide on my shot, and, with a beating heart I acknow- 



J 1 - 1 - 



