THE AFRICAN BUFFALO 229 



impales or knocks down its foe as it passes. The fact that it 

 does not lower its head when about to strike not only makes the 

 charge difficult to stop or turn, but also lessens the stalker's 

 chance of getting out of its way, as the beast is able to see 

 where it is going, and see also any movement on the sportsman's 

 part. As buffaloes stand very low on their legs, a shot at the 

 throat or chest is very difficult, unless there is time for the 

 stalker to kneel or sit down, when he would be more on a level 

 with and better able to get a shot at either of these spots. 



After a stalk and a successful shot every sportsman should 

 avoid firing at the retreating herd, on the chance of bagging 

 another by a fluke, unless he is prepared to follow up all the 

 beasts that are wounded. Apart from the cruelty of this prac- 

 tice, the fact of several wounded buffaloes being in the vicinity 

 of a shooting ground, and the uncertainty of their whereabouts, 

 is a source of great danger not only to the sportsman himself 

 and his men, but to other men, sportsmen or otherwise, who 

 come after him. When a buffalo is down, it should always be 

 approached with the utmost caution, and on no account should 

 the stalker go up to it without a heavy rifle in his hand, as 

 there is no knowing what a buffalo is capable of, however far 

 gone he may appear to be so long as its side heaves, or it 

 gives any other indication that life is not quite extinct. 



Should a buffalo after being wounded enter thick bush 

 or other covert, it is a good plan (and one I always adopt 

 myself) to wait for a quarter or half an hour before taking up 

 the spoor, as the beast will be almost certain to lie down, and 

 will not only become weak and stiff from the effects of the 

 wound, more especially if a leg is damaged or broken, but its 

 suspicions will be to a certain extent allayed. 



The African natives, whether professional hunters or only 

 porters, &c., with their extraordinarily sharp sight, are, as a 

 rule, so much quicker in detecting the slightest sign of a beast 

 having passed, be it a minute speck of blood, a bruised blade 

 of grass, or a fragment of freshly turned up earth, that I must 

 advise the sportsman to let his gun-bearers take up the 



