THE TERRIBLE. 



thirty yards of me, and was lost in the bush. 

 Descending from my frail perch, Frolic [the Hot- 

 tentot attendant] again discovered this buffalo 

 ntanding amongst some small thick bushes, which 

 nearly hid him from view; his head was lowered, 

 not a muscle of his body moved, and he was 

 without doubt listening intently. We crept noise- 

 lessly to a bush, and I again fired. The huge 

 brute ran forwards up the wind, fortunately not 

 in our direction, and stood still again. No good 

 screen being near, and his nose facing our way, 

 prudence bade us wait patiently for a change in 

 the state of affairs. Presently he lay gently down, 

 and knowing that buffaloes are exceedingly cun- 

 ning, and will adopt this plan merely to escape 

 notice and entrap their persecutors, we drew near 

 with great caution. I again fired through his 

 shoulder, and concluding from his not attempting 

 to rise, that he was helpless, we walked close up 

 to him ; and never can the scene which followed 

 be erased from my memory. Turning his ponder- 

 ous head round, his eye caught our figures; I 

 fired the second barrel of my rifle behind his 

 horns, but it did not reach the brain. His wounds 

 gave him some difficulty in getting up, which just 

 afforded Moneypenny and myself time to ensconce 

 ourselves behind the slender shrubs that grew 

 round the spot, while Frolic unwisely took to his 

 heels. The buffalo saw him, and uttering a con- 

 tinued unearthly noise, between a grunt and a 

 bellow, advanced at a pace at which these un- 

 wieldy creatures are rarely seen to run, unless 

 stirred by revenge. 



"Crashing through the low bushes, as if they 



were stubble, he passed me, but charged quite 



over Moneypenny' s lurking-place, who aimed at 



him as he came on, and lodged the ball in the 



239 



