220 BIG GAME SHOOTING 
the night and early morning, enter and lie up in bush or 
other thick covert during the day. In the first place, when 
they are in the open they are easier to see, a herd of buffaloes, 
or even a single one, being a very conspicuous object at a long 
distance. In the very early morning they are generally to be 
found, when in a herd, moving along in a fairly compact body 
(nearly always led by a cow), and not wasting much time in 
feeding on their way from their drinking-place, but heading in 
the direction of the covert they intend to lie up in during the 
day ; or they may be found on the outskirts of the bush, still 
feeding, before turning in for the day. ‘This is the best time 
to come across them, as the stalker, when he finds them pretty 
close together, has a good opportunity of examining them and 
marking the best bulls. When found feeding in the open close 
to the bush, or in open bush, they are, with an ordinary amount 
of care and trouble, easy enough to stalk. It is, however, very 
often aggravating work to follow on the outskirts of a herd, 
waiting for a favourable opportunity to crawl on to get a shot 
at the best bull, but unable to do so from the fact that several 
cows are feeding between the stalker and the bull. Should 
they, however, be quite out on the open, and unapproachable, 
the only thing to be done is to wait patiently inside the cover 
of the bush they are likely to make for to lie up in, keeping 
as near to them as possible as they move along, and attempt 
to cut them off as they enter the bush. I have tried sending 
men round to move them, but only once succeeded in cutting 
them off after a long run, and found it much betier to wait 
patiently, as they will generally give the stalker a fair idea of 
the place at which they will enter the bush. A large herd of 
buffaloes filing slowly past at a steady walk, within a range of 
30 or 40 yards of you, is a grand sight, and it is decidedly excit- 
ing, after waiting for the bull you have marked, to take your 
shot and listen to the tremendous commotion and crashing of 
the bush which follows it as the herd stampedes. 
Shooting buffaloes in thick bush, when the only means of 
finding them is by tracking, is not only intensely exciting works 
