230 BIG GAME SHOOTING 
spoor, whilst he, a yard or so in advance, with rifle at full 
cock and ready for instant use, keeps a sharp look-out ahead 
of him. 
A buffalo very often—but not always, as some writers main- 
tain— gives a deep bellowing groan when just on the point of 
dying, and the sportsman should always be on the alert for 
such an indication, as much time can be saved by walking 
straight up to it without fear, instead of cautiously poking and 
peering about in the bush, as is generally done when following 
up a wounded buffalo. 
The following account of a hunt I once had in the Arusha- 
wa-chini district in March 1887 will serve as an illustration of 
a buffalo’s cunning, ferocity, and vitality. 
I was encamped on the river Weri-weri, a short distance 
above the native villages, but as the people were afraid to 
prowl far from their homes on account of the Masai and other 
enemies, game was not only very plentiful but Jess wild than 
elsewhere. Buffaloes were very numerous, in large herds, 
besides a good many old bulls, either solitary or in small bands 
of twoor three. This country was also one of the best I was ever 
in, from a stalker’s point of view, as the alluvial plains on 
both banks of the river, though open, were dotted about with 
trees of various kinds and sizes, and were in places quite 
park-like in appearance. There were also numerous ant- 
heaps, and occasionally small bushes dotted about, besides 
the grass, about 18 inches high, all of which afforded capitai 
covert. The plain on the left or eastern bank of the river 
varied from a mile to a mile and a half in width, and was 
bordered on its eastern side by a belt of thick bush and clumps 
of forest trees, in which the buffaloes took up their quarters 
during the heat of the day, coming out again in the evening to 
feed in the open during the night and early morning. The 
bush, like most African bush which borders on open plain, 
was fairly thin on the outskirts, and was what is commonly 
known as open bush. Here was a very favourite feeding- 
ground for water-buck, impala, and other bush-loving antelopes, 
a a a 
——— Tre 
