SPORT ON THE GUASO MARU 



disease, and these animals have been steadily increasing in the 

 Protectorate ever since. The herd, which was travelling across 

 country at a fast walk, consisted mostly of cows and calves; 

 but the rear guard was brought up by four or fi\-e old bulls, 

 whose distant bellowing was occasionally wafted across the 

 plain to us. 



The country w^as too open to permit an approach of these 

 shy animals on the plain, but the moment that the herd was 

 swallowed up by the wall of thorn-bush we crossed the open 

 and entered the thickets in its wake. Unfortunately these 

 buffalo, after travelling into the bush for several hundred yards, 

 had retraced their course, and before I was aware of it I was 

 in the midst of the herd in the densest of bush. A violent 

 snorting and a crashing of underbrush on all sides, accom- 

 panied by the pounding of many flying hoofs on the hollow, 

 sandy ground, warned me of the stampede. My gun -bearer 

 with the heavy rifle had fallen behind a few yards, with the 

 result that I had only a 9-mm. Mauser to depend upon. One 

 old bull thundered by me only a few yards distant, exposing for 

 a moment a hairless black side, into which I fired two shots 

 from this light rifle. As soon as I could get the .450 Cordite 

 in my hands, I took up the spoor of this buffalo, which was 

 easy to pick out from the many tracks, ow^ng to the quantities 

 of blood spattered on the bushes. Three old bulls remained 

 behind w4th the wounded buffalo, and for many hours we 

 trailed the four animals, under a hot sun, through the thickets 

 of thorn-bush. At first, remembering the tales of the ferocity 

 of wounded African buffalo, I crept along, momentarily expect- 

 ing a charge at close quarters. As the day progressed this feel- 

 ing of anxiety gradually changed to indifference, and later in 

 the afternoon to a fervent desire that something should hap- 

 pen to enliven the awful monotony of the bush. 



Several times during the day we were within a few yards of 

 these buffalo in thick bush, but a deafening crashing of bushes 



197 



