WITH FLASH-LIGHT AND RIFLE 



— without, however, seeing the animals — I reaHzed that 

 I was on a fool's errand. How could I dare shoot with- 

 out the slightest cover and protection and no chance of 

 escape from the animals should they turn on me ? 



I therefore retraced my steps and joined mv man 

 on the tree, but could not make out the herd, however 

 much I strained m}^ eyes. 



I decided to alarm the animals by a shot into the 

 air. There ensued a great commotion far off in the reed 

 thicket, but all I could see even then was an occasional 

 pair of horns; the animals receded still deeper into the 

 reed wilderness, which formed a natural preserve for 

 them. 



I gave up all expectation of ever reaching the buf- 

 faloes in the reedy swamp ; one spark of hope was left — 

 namely, that I might surprise the animals feeding near 

 the island some night before break of day. My stand 

 on the thorny locust-tree, however, caused me to make 

 the unsought-for acquaintance of a particularly annoy- 

 ing kind of ants. 



After two more days of patient waiting we found 

 on a \'ery cloudy afternoon that a herd of about sixty 

 buffaloes had left the depth of the swamp and were 

 grazing almost on the very edge of the island. Although 

 their feeding - place could be approached only with 

 great difficulty, I managed to steal up to within three 

 hundred and fifty feet of the herd. My excitement was 

 intense. I knew that the reed-grass offered me no real 



172 



