Buffalo-shooting at Minneria Lake. 1 21 



Snatching the long two-ounce rifle from a gun-bearer, 

 I made a lucky shot. The ball must have passed 

 through his heart, as he fell stone dead. 



The three cows remained passive spectators of the 

 death of their mates, although I was convinced by their 

 expression that they would eventually show fight. I 

 was soon reloaded, and not wishing to act simply on 

 the defensive, and thus run the risk of a simultaneous 

 onset, I fired at the throat of the most vicious of the 

 party. The two-ounce ball produced no other effect 

 than an immediate charge. She bounded toward me, 

 and, although bleeding at the mouth, the distance was 

 so short that she would have been into me had I not 

 stopped her with the four-ounce rifle, which brought 

 her to the ground when within fifteen paces ; here she 

 lay disabled, but not dead, and again I reloaded as fast 

 as possible. 



The two remaining cows appeared to have taken a 

 lesson from the fate of their comrades ; and showing no 

 disposition to charge, I advanced toward them to 

 within twenty yards. One of the cows now com- 

 menced tearing the muddy ground with her horns, and 

 thus offered a certain shot, which I accordingly took, 

 and dropped her dead with a ball in the nape of the 

 neck. This was too much for the remaining buffalo ; 

 she turned to plunge into the lake, but the four-ounce 

 through her shoulder brought her down before she 

 could reach the water, into which the three calves had 

 sprung, and were swimming for the main shore. I hit 

 the last calf in the head with a double-barreled gun, 

 and he immediately sank ; and I missed another calf 

 with the left-hand barrel ; therefore two escaped. I 

 sent a man into the water to find the dead calf, which 

 11 



