228 BIG GAME SHOOTING 
could see nothing of him. As I stood on the ant-heap consult- 
ing with my gun-bearer in a low whisper, I heard the well- 
known hissing cry of a rhinoceros bird, and saw it fly up out of 
the bush on the farther side of it, a little to the left of me. 
The buffalo, though disturbed by the warning cry of the bird, 
was evidently not much alarmed, as he began to move across 
my front at a slow walk, and I could follow his movements by 
the shaking of the bush as he passed through it, but could not 
see him. When he was just about opposite to where I stood, 
he changed his course and came straight towards me, still at a 
slow walk, and when he arrived within a few yards of the edge 
immediately opposite to me, I slipped out of sight behind the 
ant-heap and waited for him to appear. He came to the very 
edge of the bush, stopped for about half a minute, and I then - 
began to fear that he had either seen me, as I was quite out in 
the open, or had heard a slight noise I made in exchanging the 
500 Express (always loaded on such occasions with solid bullets) 
for the 8-bore, when the barrels struck together. Whilst I lay 
on the side of the ant-heap, peeping over the top, he moved 
forward, and I covered the place where I saw the bush move, 
in readiness to fire, as he was then only 16 yards from me. 
At last I saw his grand head, which he held high, come through 
the bush, but was unable to get a good view of his chest, as 
directly his head was clear of the bush he lowered it, and my 
only chance was at his head. Drawing a bead on his forehead, 
I pulled the trigger, but the cartridge missed fire. He, how- 
ever, did not hear the click of the hammer, and before he was 
clear of the bush I dropped him dead in his tracks with the left 
barrel at a distance of exactly 14 yards, the bullet entering 
the centre of his forehead about an inch below the frontlet of 
the horns. 
_As I have said before, a buffalo when it charges does not 
come on with its head down, but always with its nose held 
straight out, and its forehead almost horizontal ; and it does 
not even lower its head when at striking distance, but turns it 
to one side, and, with a rapid sidelong sweep of the horns, 
