CLASS I, MAMMALIA: ORDER 9. RUMINANTIA. 491 



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Isaac rode up and inquired what had become of the buffaloes, little dreaming that they were 

 standing within twenty yards of him. I answered by pointing my musket across his horse's nose 

 and letting fly sharp right and left at the two buffaloes. 



"A headlong charge, accompanied by a muffled roar, was the result. In an instant I was round 

 a clump of tangled thorn-trees; but Isaac, by the violence of his efforts to get his horse in mo- 

 tion, lost his balance, and at the same instant, his girths giving way, himself, his saddle, and bio- 

 Dutch rifle, all came to the ground together, with a heavy crash, right in the path of the infuri- 

 ated buffaloes. Two of the dogs, which had fortunately that moment joined us, met them in their 

 charge, and by diverting their attention, probably saved Isaac from instant destruction. The buf- 

 faloes now took up another position in an adjoining thicket. They were both badly wounded, 

 blotches and pools of blood marking the ground where they had stood. The dogs rendered me 

 assistance by taking up their attention, and in a few minutes these two noble bulls breathed their 

 last beneath the shade of a mimosa grove. Each of them, in dying, repeatedly uttered a very 

 striking, low, deep moan. This I subsequently ascertained the buffalo invariably utters wdien in 

 the act of expiring. 



"On going up to them, I was astonished to behold their size and powerful appearance. Their 

 horns reminded me of the rugged trunk of an oak-tree. Each horn was upward of a foot in 

 breadth at the base, and together they effectually protected the skull with a massive and impen- 

 etrable shield. The horns, descending and spreading out horizontally, completely overshadowed 

 the animal's eyes, imparting to him a look the most ferocious and sinister that can be imagined. 

 Early in the afternoon I dispatched men with a pack-horse to bring the finer of the two buffalo- 

 heads. It was so ponderous that two powerful men could with difficulty raise it from the ground. 

 Isaac did not soon forget his adventure with the buffaloes, and at night, over the fire, he informed 

 my men that I was mad, and that any man who followed me was sroino- headlong: to his own de- 

 st ruction." 



Another passage, furnished by the same adventurous sportsman, is too descriptive to be omitted: 



"We were marching quietly along, and were nearly opposite the center of the reeds, when, on 

 emerging from a grove of thorny mokala-trees, casting our eyes to the right, we suddenly beheld 

 a numerous herd of buffaloes grazing on the open plain between us and the vlev. Their dark 

 imposing squadrons extended over a great space of ground, and we reckoned that there might 

 have been between six and eio-ht hundred of them. I immediately saddled 'Sundav,' and rode 

 toward them. As I drew near, they stood gazing at me for a minute, and then, panic-stricken, 

 the whole herd started off together, making for the nearest wood. Pressing my horse, I was soon 

 ahead of them, and by shouting I turned them right about, when they thundered along in a com- 

 pressed mass, and held for the reeds. Their amazing numbers greatly impeded their progress, 

 and I had no difficulty in keeping alongside of them. I kept on their right flank to enable me 

 more conveniently to fire, and on one occasion, on my riding very near the foremost of the herd, 

 a large division of those behind me suddenly extended to the right and increased their pace, and 

 on looking over my shoulder, I found myself almost surrounded by their helmeted squadrons. 



" As I galloped along I endeavored to select the finest head, but among so many it was no easv 

 matter to make a choice, and as soon as I selected one he disappeared among the ranks of his 

 companions. At length, riding at the gallop, I let fly right and left into the herd, and next mo- 

 ment they had gained the margin of the lofty reeds. Here the whole herd suddenly halted and 

 faced about with the regularity and precision of a regiment of cavalry, when, having overhauled 

 me for half a minute, they charged headlong into the soft, muddy vley, and in another moment 

 they were hidden from my view. I marked the reeds bowing before them far on my right and 

 lett as they splashed and struggled through the marshy vley, and presently they gained the other 

 side, when, emerging from the reeds, they held across the open plain, steering for their strong- 

 holds in the woods beyond. As the clouds of dust behind me cleared away, I looked back and 

 beheld a fine old cow stagger for a moment and then fall dead, and near, her stood a wounded 

 calf, whose mother had remained beside it, being loth to leave her offspring." 



Dr. Livingstone gives a similar account of the abundance of wild buffaloes in these regions, and 

 adds some striking illustrations of their enormous strength. Among these is the following, the 



