chap. i. BUFFALO. 9 



never rested, or in shady recesses under an impenetrable 

 tangle of thorns, or by the side of some great tree, against 

 which the mud resting on the bark showed that he had 

 been rubbing. Several times the rush of a disturbed 

 bush-buck, or, in the more open parts, of an impalla, sent 

 my heart into my mouth, for it is nervous, uncanny work 

 silently moving through these deep half-lit masses of 

 vegetation. Once the Kaffir touched my shoulder and 

 pronounced the magical word " imbubi ;" but it was no 

 lion, but a great wild boar, whose tawny-coloured hide 

 gave it in the gloom a certain resemblance to the king of 

 beasts. Up and down, and up and down we wandered, 

 the spoor forming never-ending circles and mazes, some- 

 times so involved that we were fain to leave it and let 

 him go ; sometimes we sat down for a few moments while 

 the native solaced himself with snuff, but we did not 

 despair, and followed on, though the difficulties were such 

 that it was nearly four o'clock before we found that the 

 buffalo had left the jungle on the side next the river and 

 had entered the reeds. These, which here form a border 

 to the river of some sixty or seventy yards in breadth, are 

 so dense as to effectually conceal an animal a yard off; 

 they grow to a great height, often upwards of twenty feet, 

 and so closely together that, unless some large animal 

 has already passed, it is often difficult for a man to crush 

 through them. Buffalo, the only game, except water- 

 antelopes and lions, which ever enter them, form in such 

 places as they constantly visit a net-work of narrow 

 paths, generally running parallel to the river, and in some 

 districts, especially those which are liable to be much 

 disturbed, herds lie in them during the day, though, 



