A BUFFALO HUNT BY THE KAMITI 159 



gether; but there were outlying bulls found singly or in 

 small parties. Not only the natives but the whites were in- 

 clined to avoid the immediate neighborhood of the papy- 

 rus swamp, for there had been one or two narrow escapes 

 from unprovoked attacks by the buffalo. The farmer told 

 us that a man, who was coming to see him had been regu- 

 larly followed by three bulls, who pursued him for quite a 

 distance. There is no doubt that under certain circum- 

 stances buffalo, in addition to showing themselves exceed- 

 ingly dangerous opponents when wounded by hunters, be- 

 come truculent and inclined to take the offensive themselves. 

 There are places in East Africa where as regards at least 

 certain herds this seems to be the case; and in Uganda the 

 buffalo have caused such loss of life, and such damage to the 

 native plantations, that they are now ranked as vermin and 

 not as game, and their killing is encouraged in every possi- 

 ble way. The list of white hunters that have been killed 

 by buffalo is very long, and includes a number of men of 

 note, while accidents to natives are of constant occurrence. 

 The morning after making our camp, we started at dawn 

 for the buffalo ground, Kermit and I, Cuninghame and 

 Heatley, and the Boer farmer with three big, powerful 

 dogs. We walked near the edge of the swamp. The why- 

 dah birds were continually bobbing up and down in front 

 of us as they rose and fell on their dancing-places, while 

 the Kavirondo cranes called mournfully all around. Be- 

 fore we had gone two miles, buffalo were spied, well ahead, 

 feeding close to the papyrus. The line of the papyrus 

 which marked the edge of the swamp was not straight, but 

 broken by projections and indentations; and by following it 

 closely and cutting cautiously across the points, the oppor- 

 tunity for stalking was good. As there was not a tree of 

 any kind anywhere near, we had to rely purely on our 

 shooting to prevent damage from the buffalo. Kermit and 

 I had our double-barrels, with the Winchesters as spare 

 guns, while Cuninghame carried a 577, and Heatley a 

 magazine rifle. 



