HISTORY. 227 



dived. He dipped down overhead, and the Buffalo for he mo- 

 ment lost sight of him, and swam toward the opposite shore, 

 three miles distant, and would have reached it, but for a shot 

 from the gun of a ship, which chanced to be lying at a little 

 distance. 



The following incident is recorded in a periodical work, on 

 the authority of a Dutch- African farmer, who had been a 

 witness of the scene fifteen years before. " A party of boors 

 had gone out to hunt a troop of Buffaloes, which were graz- 

 ing in a piece of marshy ground, interspersed with groves of 

 yellow wood and mimosa trees, on the very spot where the 

 village of Somerset is now built. As they could not con- 

 veniently get within shot of the game without crossing part 

 of the valei or marsh, which did not afford a safe passage for 

 horses, they agreed to leave their steeds in charge of their 

 Hottentot servants, and to advance on foot, thinking that, if 

 any of the Buffaloes should turn upon them, it would be easy 

 to escape by retreating across the quagmire, which, though 

 passable for man, would not support the weight of a heavy 

 quadruped. They advanced accordingly, and, under cover of 

 the bushes, approached the game with such advantage, that 

 the first volley brought down three of the fattest of thelierd, 

 and so severely wounded the great bull leader, that he dropped 

 on his knees, bellowing with pain. Thinking him mortally 

 wounded, the foremost of the huntsmen issued from the covert, 

 and began reloading his musket as he advanced, to give him 

 a finishing shot. But no sooner did the infuriated animal 

 see his foe in front of him, than he sprang up, and rushed 

 headlong upon him. The man, throwing down his empty 

 gun, fled towards the quagmire ; but the savage beast was 

 so close upon him that he despaired of escaping in that direc- 

 tion, and turning suddenly round a clump of copse wood, be- 

 gan to climb an old mimosa tree which stood at one side 

 of it. The raging beast, however, was too quick for him. 

 Bounding forward with a roar, which my informant (who was 

 one of the party) described as being one of the most frightful 



