Congo Buffaloes 233 



tracks being very fresh, indicating their nearness, 

 I did not wish to abandon the chase : so I decided 

 to leave the supposed hartebeests in peace. But the 

 tracks led us straight to them, and I was beginning 

 to ask myself whether I had not to do with buffaloes 

 of another species when one of them turned round. 

 I was then convinced that the animal was certainly 

 not an antelope. I drew near within 150 yards with- 

 out difficulty, and, not knowing whether these animals 

 would allow me to shorten the distance, fired at one, 

 which fell on the spot. Upon running up to finish it 

 off I saw that the others had stopped near ; and I 

 wounded a second mortally, which we found 100 yards 

 away. It was a herd of Congo buffaloes, all the 

 animals composing it being females. The female is 

 reddish-brown ; the male darker, but not so black 

 as the Cape buffalo. Smaller than this species, the 

 Congo buffalo rarely exceeds 4 feet 1 inches ; its 

 horns are short and crescent-shaped, resembling those 

 of certain breeds of cattle. 1 Some Europeans who 

 have shot them affirm that they charge exactly like 

 the big East African buffalo. I have not been able 

 to verify this statement, and, besides, have not hunted 

 these animals long enough to form an accurate idea of 

 their peculiarities. During my stay in the Congo 

 I killed eight of them, and sometimes went into the 

 thick jungle to hunt out others which I had wounded, 

 and although several of them lowered their heads to 

 butt, not one charged me. 2 It must be mentioned 



1 Perhaps this is the bos euryceros. 



2 The majority of the large antelopes also lower their heads _to 



