THE AFRICAN BUFFALO 219 



sportsman must never forget that he is dealing with a most 

 formidable beast, and should always endeavour to get up to 

 it close enough to insure his putting a bullet as near as pos- 

 sible to the spot aimed at, in order to kill or render it helpless 

 at once. The greatest caution should be exercised in the 

 approach, and the stalker should endeavour to keep out of sight 

 not only before but after taking a shot, as a beast is far less 

 likely to charge if it is quite ignorant of the stalker's whereabouts 

 before it is fired at and wounded than when aware of his 

 presence beforehand, and though perhaps unable quite to 

 decide what he is, is given his exact whereabouts by the 

 dense cloud of smoke. Personally I have never been charged 

 at close quarters by buffaloes, although I have had many 

 encounters with them quite exciting enough to assure me that 

 a wounded buffalo is a beast that is not to be trifled with. I 

 owe this immunity primarily to the fact of my having used very 

 heavy rifles a single 4-bore for the first shot, with a double 

 8-bore in reserve, and I have generally succeeded in getting 

 within 80 yards, far more often indeed within 50 yards of 

 them before firing. Then again, when a beast has been 

 wounded, I have always endeavoured to keep it in sight, in 

 order to save myself from being taken at a disadvantage, and 

 also to avoid the loss of time spent in following up the blood- 

 spoor. Whenever a beast has got into thick covert where it 

 was quite impossible to watch its movements, I have nearly 

 always waited a short time before taking up the spoor to give 

 it time to lie down, become stiff, and partly forget its fear 

 and trouble. But perhaps I owe my safety principally to my 

 having had the good luck always to see the beast before or at 

 the same time that it saw me, when I have at once saluted it 

 with a 4-bore or 8-bore bullet, which has knocked out of it, 

 whatever inclination it may have had to charge. 



In buffalo shooting it is perhaps more important to be up early 

 and on the feeding grounds by daylight than in any other kind 

 of big game shooting, as it can be taken as a general rule that 

 buffaloes, after feeding in the open plains and glades during 



