MY FIVE BUFFALOES. 29 



thicket of thorns. While passing through this, Langa 

 suddenly pointed with his assegai. At first I could see 

 nothing, but after peering for half a minute I managed 

 to make out the form of a buffalo about sixty yards off. 

 I stalked up, and when I got within about forty yards 

 I thought I could distinguish his outline sufficiently 

 well to take a shot at his shoulder. I fired, and he 

 rushed off with a broken shoulder, and the dog raced 

 after him. I followed up until I heard the dog baying 

 him in a nasty thick place. Impunity having made me 

 over-confident, I rushed in, just in time to meet the 

 buffalo coming out at me. There was no time to settle 

 the rifle into my shoulder, so I fired a snap shot which 

 must have glanced off the dense mass of horn upon his 

 forehead, for he continued his charge. I sprang to one 

 side. It must have been a record standing jump side- 

 ways. I am not much of a jumper, but it is astounding 

 what an amount of latent agility is educed by the rush 

 of a buffalo. He made a pass at me with his horns, and 

 I positively felt the wind of the stroke he gave, but his 

 impetus carried him past me, and he dashed on. 



The dog brought him to bay again in a place which 

 was, if anything, worse than before. I went in again, 

 and again he came out at me, but this time through a 

 bush so dense that I could not see him until he was 

 close upon me. I had no time to fire, and made a dash 

 to the right along a small path made by game. On this 

 occasion he was too cunning to rush past me, and 

 swerved round to follow me. He was close to me, and 

 in another second I must have been gored, when fortune 

 favoured me. There was a small tree with branches 

 growing at an angle outwards from the very root. 

 Under this tree I dived and lay flat, keeping my body 



