266 THE WILDERNESS AND JUNGLE 



it became evident that a big dog belonging to 

 a friend of mine a big white lurcher, a cross 

 between a bull terrier and a Kaffir dog had 

 the animal at bay, so I slipped in two more 

 looper cartridges and then came suddenly on 

 the two of them. The moment the buck 

 caught sight of me, it charged clean over the 

 dog and came right at me. The bush was too 

 thick to allow of my dodging the charge by 

 stepping aside, and there was time to get my 

 gun up, so I just threw myself backwards into 

 the thick prickly bushes. Next moment I re- 

 ceived a tremendous blow in the lower part of 

 my waistcoat and thought I was pierced and 

 done for. The buck then turned to charge 

 again, but the plucky lurcher dashed in and 

 seized it by the nose. This gave me my 

 chance, and I shot the animal. I then looked 

 to see the extent of my own damage, and was 

 surprised to find that it amounted to nothing 

 at all. The reason why I got off so easily was 

 that the animal was doubly handicapped, since 

 not only had one of its horns been broken off 

 short for some time, but my charge of small 

 shot must also have all but blinded it." 



More dangerous than even the floods of 

 African rivers are the crocodiles that hide 

 effectually in their muddy water. Two very 

 remarkable cases of escape from crocodiles are 

 recorded in The Field. In one of these, a 

 Mr. Barnes was crossing a muddy stream in 

 Rhodesia in pursuit of a wounded elephant 



