214 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



CHAPTER XI 



THE AFRICAN BUFFALO 



BY F. J. JACKSON 



THE African buffalo (B. caffa), known to the natives as ' Mboga' 

 or ' Nyati,' is, I consider, on a'ccount of its enormous strength 

 and vitality, combined with great pluck and natural cunning, 

 the most dangerous beast in East Africa, and I believe this 

 opinion is shared by the majority of men who have hunted it 

 to any extent. As it rarely happens that a beast of any kind 

 charges without provocation, excepting the rhinoceros, to which 

 I shall come later on, I use the word ' dangerous ' as applied to 

 a beast after it has been wounded. Compared with an ele- 

 phant, a buffalo is of course inferior both in size and strength ; 

 as compared with a lion, in activity only. When wounded all 

 these three beasts will endeavour to get into thick covert to 

 hide themselves. This is greatly in their favour when they 

 are being tracked by the sportsman, more particularly so in 

 the case of a buffalo or a lion. All ' dangerous ' beasts, such 

 as elephants, buffaloes, lions, rhinoceroses, &c., are more likely 

 to charge when taken unawares and at close quarters, and 

 under these circumstances a charge by a buffalo is not only 

 the most dangerous of all, but more probable for the following 

 reasons. Thick bush 5^ ft. high (whether in large belts or 

 small patches and clumps) will hide a buffalo when it is 

 standing up, even if only a few feet away from the sportsman, 

 and should it be lying down, thick covert only 3 ft. to 3 ft. 

 6 in. high will conceal it quite as effectually. 



With an elephant, which would never lie down, the bush 



