from me would have brought him to a 

 breathless standstill at any moment ; but 

 even this was not likely to be needed, for 

 he kept as close a watch on my face as I did on him. 



There was, of course, no difficulty whatever in 

 following the spoor ; the animals were as big as cattle, 

 and their trail through the rank grass was as plain as 

 a road : our difficulty was to get near enough to see 

 them without being heard. Under the down-trodden 

 grass there were plenty of dry sticks to step on, any 

 of which would have been as fatal to our chances as 

 a pistol shot, and even the unavoidable rustle of the 

 grass might betray us while the buffalo themselves 

 remained hidden. Thus our progress was very slow, 

 a particularly troublesome impediment being the grass 

 stems thrown down across the trail by the animals 

 crossing and re-crossing each others' spoor and stopping 

 to crop a mouthful here and there or perhaps to play. 

 The tambookie grass in these parts has a stem thicker 

 than a lead pencil, more like young bamboo than grass ; 

 and these stems thrown cross-ways by storms or game 

 make an entanglement through which the foot cannot 

 be forced : it means high stepping all the time. 



We expected to follow the spoor for several miles 

 before coming on the buffalo probably right into 

 the kloof towards which it appeared to lead but 

 were, nevertheless, quite prepared to drop on to them 

 at any moment, knowing well how game will loiter 

 on their way when undisturbed and vary their time 

 and course, instinctively avoiding the too regular 

 habits which would make them an easy prey. 

 279 



