214 BIG GAME SHOOTING 
CHAPTER XI 
THE AFRICAN BUFFALO 
By F. J. JACKSON - 
Tue African buffalo (B. caffa), known to the natives as ‘ Mboga’ 
or ‘ Nyati,’ is, I consider, on account of its enormous strength 
and vitality, combined with great pluck and natural cunning, 
the most dangerous beast in East Africa, and I believe this 
opinion is shared by the majority of men who have hunted it 
to any extent. As it rarely happens that a beast of any kind 
charges without provocation, excepting the rhinoceros, to which 
I shall come later on, I use the word ‘ dangerous’ as applied to 
a beast after it has been wounded. Compared with an ele- 
phant, a buffalo is of course inferior both in size and strength ; 
as compared with a lion, in activity only. When wounded all 
these three beasts will endeavour to get into thick covert to 
hide themselves. This is greatly in their favour when they 
are being tracked by the sportsman, more particularly so in 
the case of a buffalo or a lion. All ‘dangerous’ beasts, such 
as elephants, buffaloes, lions, rhinoceroses, &c., are‘more likely 
to charge when taken unawares and at close quarters, and 
under these circumstances a charge by a buffalo is not only 
the most dangerous of all, but more probable for the following 
reasons. ‘Thick bush 54 ft. high (whether in large belts or 
small patches and clumps) will hide a buffalo when it is 
standing up, even if only a few feet away from the sportsman, 
and should it be lying down, thick covert only 3 ft. to 3 ft. 
6 in. high will conceal it quite as effectually. 
With an elephant, which would never lie down, the bush 
pet ag ely ly le ee 
adbeast ah 
Sal siitsig- anerbesdnaandapeeamteiton 
(ohtereeh cehens 
