32 TALES OF A NOMAD. 



then heard the buffalo grunting. I waited for some 

 time for Umbande, but he never returned, so I followed 

 up on the spoor. I found him lying on his face quite 

 dead, near him was a tree and round the tree were his 

 footmarks and the footmarks of the buffalo. The left 

 barrel of his gun was undischarged as it had missed fire." 



Umbande' had evidently approached the buffalo and 

 had fired. It had charged him. He had run to the 

 tree for protection, and had succeeded in dodging it for 

 a little, but had at last been caught, tossed and then 

 trampled. The body was disembowelled and was 

 trampled almost out of all human semblance, and the 

 powder-horn had been split to pieces. But enough of 

 digression. We lay down to sleep in good time, so that 

 we might be up early on the morrow. 



At about eight A.M. on the following morning we were 

 all ready. The dogs were coupled up, and we started 

 in a direction which we guessed would enable us to cut 

 the spoor of the troup Inyati had followed the previous 

 day. In about half an hour's time we came upon their 

 tracks, and at once followed them. The tracks were of 

 the previous evening, but in about half an hour more we 

 came to where they had lain down to sleep during the 

 night. By all appearances there must have been several 

 hundred buffaloes. Farther on we had a little trouble, for 

 they seemed to have divided into two troops. We held 

 a short consultation, and it was agreed that we were to 



separate; that C was to follow the spoor that trended 



to the left, and that I was to take the spoor to the right. 



My spoor led straight towards the Libombo Moun- 

 tains, which were now not a mile distant. I had not 

 separated from C a quarter of an hour when I sud- 

 denly came in sight of the buffaloes. 



