5 o BIG GAMP: SHOOTING 



the rest of his family try not to laugh by stretching and 

 stretching became a giraffe,' to the detriment of his hind- 

 quarters. But what about the snsnybye, hartebeest, and 

 elephant why are they so low behind ? The lion, too, is weak- 

 quartered in comparison with his forehand, and even the 

 hyaena has thought it necessary to follow the fashion. The 

 animals of South Africa, indeed, are a queer lot all countries 

 have their specialities, but Africa is all speciality distinct are 

 the giraffes, the gnus, the hippos ; adapted plus cequo are the 

 elephants, rhinoceroses and antelopes. 



Buffaloes were abundant, the bravest and most determined 

 of all animals when wounded and at bay ; courage is the in- 

 stinct of the buffalo family. Look at the wild cousin in India, 

 who will charge home upon a line of elephants, and even at his 

 tame relations in the same country. In Collegal, an outlying 

 talook of the district of Coimbatoor, in the Madras Presi- 

 dency, I have seen the village buffaloes drive a full-grown 

 tiger helter-skelter up the hills, pursuing him far beyond their 

 feeding grounds. Again, I have known a misguided tiger 

 spring into the midst of a herd penned up for the night ; he 

 was stamped and gored to death, and when taken out from 

 amongst the half-maddened beasts in the morning he was a pulp. 

 The Bubalus caffer is a stirring fellow when his blood is up ; you 

 may shoot a dozen on a flat or in open ground, taking your 

 own distance for dismounting and shooting, and think them 

 oxen ; but wound one in thickish bush and follow him, and if 

 alive he'll let you know it ! The Kafirs will hunt a blood 

 spoor of elephant, lion, rhinoceros, or any other animal right 

 ahead of you like hounds ; but put them upon wounded 

 buffalo tracks, they will follow you at a respectful distance ; 

 they know the ways of him and his character. Wounded 

 in bush he runs straight on for some little distance, then 

 turns back and takes a line close to and parallel with his 

 up-tracks, lying down or concealing himself behind a patch of 

 cover. With his eyes on the ground the sportsman is picking 

 out the trail, when a hard grunting bellow to right or left 



