164 SPORT AND TRAVEL PAPERS 



as hard as we could, up and down hill, perspiring, stumbling, out 

 of hreath, out of temper with the thorns, every now and then 

 stopping to listen for a sound of the dogs, whose bark soon 

 became inaudible. The speed of so heavy a beast as the buffalo 

 when hunted is wonderful ; his weight, of course, breaks a way 

 through everything, but the pace with which he scrambles up 

 almost perpendicular hills is marvellous. Although full of hope 

 that the dogs would bring one to bay, we were, as usual, disap- 

 pointed. All sound was lost, and nothing remained but to follow 

 the largest spoor. As the dogs returned one by one, the chase 

 had towards evening to be given up. And yet this is said to be 

 the only way of successfully hunting the buffalo here, sitting up 

 at one of the many water-holes affording too poor a chance. 

 These are too numerous, and the river is always close at hand 

 wherever the constantly moving herd may happen to be. When 

 tracking without dogs the buffalo, always on the alert, is certain 

 to hear, and will probably see, the hunter in the thick bush long 

 before he himself is visible, and be gone where pursuit is hope- 

 less. Luck also here plays a prominent part. When going 

 home one evening through some thick bush close to the camp, 

 alone and without a rifle, which had been given to a Kaffir, I 

 suddenly came on a buffalo cow. It would be difficult to say 

 who was the more surprised at this unlooked-for meeting. 

 Luckily for me, she was not desirous of prolonging the inter- 

 view. The herds are very difficult to find, they roam about from 

 one end of the bush to the other; it is only by living on the 

 spot and making certain of their whereabouts that the chance of 

 success would be improved. 



There is some very valuable timber in this bush, more especially 

 sneezewood and olinia both almost indestructible to damp, and 

 therefore of great value for fencing. The bush, as a whole, is 

 low, but thick, long festoons of beard-moss hang from the larger 

 trees, and a musty aromatic odour pervades the denser parts, 

 whither the sun's rays cannot penetrate. The paths cut through 

 the bush look very pretty on these sunny mornings ; the ground 

 is thickly carpeted with luxuriant grass and many- coloured 

 flowers; of every shade of green are the trees and shrubs on 

 either side ; all nature fresh and bright in the powerful sunlight 

 and heavy dew, which latter hangs like so many sparkling gems 

 from the huge spider-webs suspended everywhere across the 



