76 After Big Game in Central Africa 



charge farther away, and you have time, if you are 

 cool, to stop him in his course ; only, to fire with some 

 chance of success, he must be very near and must 

 have his head lowered to strike you with his horns. 



Thus, you risk more by being charged by a buffalo 

 than by a rhinoceros. The latter is, doubtless, a more 

 dangerous adversary than the former ; but, buffaloes 

 being more numerous, it is natural that accidents are 

 more frequent with them. The charge of the lion and 

 that of the elephant are, without denial, also extremely 

 redoubtable ; once or twice you escape, but some fine 

 day you do not, and there is a speedy end to your 

 career. 



Now let us return to our buffalo. Our scouts on 

 the tree-tops have signalled him as being situated 

 with his head to the left, and we endeavour to get 

 round him without making a noise. But he hears 

 us and slowly turns round, so our scouts inform us, 

 then once more remains motionless, facing in our 

 direction. I leave a man on the spot towards which 

 he is looking with instructions not to move, but every 

 now and then to break a small branch to make the 

 animal believe that we advance from that direction, 

 while noiselessly we return with the others to the 

 track to which he now turns his back. This strata- 

 gem succeeds ; while he is listening to the man who 

 breaks the branches I put a bullet through his head. 



This buffalo had the finest pair of horns I have 

 ever seen, but unfortunately the tip of one of them 

 was broken. They measured not less than 3 feet 6 

 inches between the curves. The height of the 



