MY THREE SEA-COWS. 55 



stock still, with his head raised, and was staring hard at 

 me. He had come down to drink, and was taking the 

 measure of the first European he had ever seen in his 

 life. I slowly took up my rifle and raised it inch by inch 

 to my left shoulder until I covered him. He never moved 

 during this operation. I shot him. 



The bush-buck is a handsome little antelope, about 

 the size of a <roedeer, and has bayonet-shaped horns. 

 He has a reputation for being dangerous, and there are 

 many instances of dogs and hunters having been killed 

 by a wounded bush-buck. We now retraced our steps to 

 camp. On the way I heard the sound of Mataffayen's 

 gun. He always put in a fistfull of powder, so that 

 you could hear the report a couple of miles off. I was 

 very much annoyed at his disobedience of orders, and 

 on arriving in camp gave him a sample of true British 

 rhetoric, but became mollified on hearing his explana- 

 tion. 



He wished to cross the river at a point where the 

 water was not more than two feet deep. At this spot 

 there were two or three small islands of reeds in the 

 river, and it was his intention to wade from island to 

 island and thus gain the farther bank. He had reached 

 the first island, and was just about to cross the channel 

 of water which separated it from the next island when a 

 crocodile ejected a quantity of water from its mouth at 

 him, and then made a dash to seize him, on which he 

 fired at it. 



This may or may not have been true. The Caffres 

 who accompanied him vouched for it, and stood exami- 

 nation satisfactorily. I have often been told that the 

 crocodile waits until its prey stoops down its head to 

 drink, and then ejects a lot of water into the animal's 



