50 BIG GAME SHOOTING 
the rest of his family—try not to laugh—by stretching and 
stretching became a giraffe,’ to the detriment of his hind- 
quarters. But what about the sasaybye, hartebeest, and 
elephant—why are they so low behind? Thelion, too, is weak- 
quartered in comparison with his forehand, and even the 
hyzena has thought it necessary to follow the fashion. The 
animals of South Africa, indeed, are a queer lot—all countries 
have their specialities, but Africa is all speciality—distinct are 
the giraffes, the gnus, the hippos ; adapted p/us eguo are the 
elephants, rhinoceroses and antelopes. 
Buffaloes were abundant, the bravest and most determined 
of all animals when wounded and at bay; courage is the in- 
stinct of the buffalo family. Look at the wild cousin in India, 
who will charge home upon a line of elephants, and even at his 
tame relations in the same country. In Collegal, an outlying 
talook of the district of Coimbatoor, in the Madras Presi- 
dency, I have seen the village buffaloes drive a full-grown 
tiger helter-skelter up the hills, pursuing him far beyond their 
feeding grounds. Again, I have known a misguided tiger 
spring into the midst of a herd penned up for the night ; he 
was stamped and gored to death, and when taken out from 
amongst the half-maddened beasts in the morning he was a pulp. 
The Bubalus caffer is a stirring fellow when his blood is up; you 
may shoot a dozen on a flat or in open ground, taking your 
own distance for dismounting and shooting, and think them 
oxen ; but wound one in thickish bush and follow him, and if 
alive he’ll let you know it! The Kafirs will hunt a blood 
spoor of elephant, lion, rhinoceros, or any other animal right 
ahead of you like hounds ; but put them upen wounded 
buffalo tracks, they will fo//ow you at a respectful distance ; 
they know the ways of him and his character. Wounded 
in bush he runs straight on for some little distance, then 
turns back and takes a line close to and parallel with his 
up-tracks, lying down or concealing himself behind a patch of 
cover. With his eyes on the ground the sportsman is picking 
out the trail, when a hard grunting bellow to right or left 
