THE LAND OF FOOTPRINTS 



gagement while he was unaware. On the other hand, 

 his present attitude — half away from me — was 

 not favourable; nor, in my exposed position dared 

 I move to a better place. There seemed nothing 

 better than to wait; so wait we did. Mavrouki 

 crouched close at my elbow, showing not the faintest 

 indication of a desire to be anywhere but there. 



The buffalo browsed for a minute or so; then swung 

 slowly broadside on. So massive and low were the 

 bosses of his horns that the brain shot was impossible. 

 Therefore I aimed low in the shoulder. The shock 

 of the bullet actually knocked that great beast off 

 his feet! My respect for the hitting power of the 

 405 went up several notches. The only trouble was 

 that he rebounded like a rubber ball. Without an 

 instant's hesitation I gave him another in the same 

 place. This brought him to his knees for an instant; 

 but he was immediately afoot again. Billy had, 

 with great good sense and courage, continued to He 

 absolutely flat within a few yards of the beast, 

 Mavrouki and I had kept low, and C. and the men 

 were out of sight. The buffalo therefore had seen 

 none of his antagonists. He charged at a guess; 

 and guessed wrong. As he went by I fired at his 

 head, and, as we found out afterward, broke his 

 jaw. A moment later C.'s great elephant gun roared 

 from somewhere behind me as he fired by a glimpse 



368 



