120 AFRICAN NATURE NOTES CHAP 



in the shade of scattered trees, on bare ground, 

 from which all the grass had been burnt off, and 

 they would then trot away, continually stopping and 

 looking back, but making no sound. But I can 

 remember distinctly two occasions on which I 

 suddenly disturbed a pack of wild dogs in longish 

 grass. On both these occasions they were very- 

 near to me, but could not very well make me out, 

 owing to the length of the grass. They retreated 

 very slowly, and kept jumping up, looking at me 

 inquisitively, with their large ears cocked forward. 

 At the same time they gave vent to a kind of bark, 

 the sound being repeated twice. This double note 

 might be represented by the syllables " hoo-hoo." 



On one of these two occasions which I say I 

 remember so well, I was hunting in 1873 in the 

 country about half-way between Bulawayo and the 

 Victoria Falls, not very far, I fancy, from the 

 present railway line. After a long march I had 

 reached a swampy valley then known by the name 

 of Dett where there was water, and where I 

 intended to camp. Seeing some buffaloes drinking 

 a little way down the valley, and wanting some 

 fresh meat, I at once proceeded to stalk them. The 

 stream at which the buffaloes were drinking ran 

 down the centre of an open valley some 300 yards 

 broad, in which there was no cover, except that 

 afforded by coarse grass, some 2^ feet to 3 feet in 

 length. Being armed with only an old muzzle- 

 loading four-bore gun, I had to get pretty close to 

 anything I wanted to shoot, and I had crawled half- 

 way to the buffaloes when I saw them all suddenly 

 raise their heads and look down the valley. I 

 immediately looked in the same direction, and then 

 heard a heavy trampling noise, which I knew must 

 be caused by a herd of large animals running. 



This noise came rapidly nearer, and on raising 

 myself so that I could look over the grass, I saw 



