THE BANTING 117 



only to be followed again by the herd. This 

 was curious but annoying, as there were one 

 or two young bulls with the herd, and it was 

 not always easy, in the thick undergrowth, to 

 distinguish the wounded animal's tracks from 

 those of the others. 



Presently the bull's tracks separated again 

 and led down to a stream. We crossed it, 

 but there was no corresponding trail leading 

 up the opposite bank. We waded up stream 

 for some distance, and then searched every- 

 where along the bank, coming back to the 

 original crossing. Where had the brute gone ? 

 It began to rain, and I was in despair lest we 

 should lose him after all. We now tried down 

 stream, and there were the great tracks oozing 

 up through the muddy water ! Two hundred 

 yards farther down we found his trail ascend- 

 ing the opposite bank. The cunning beast 

 had waded down stream to throw us off the 

 trail, and had nearly succeeded in doing so. 

 Cautiously I climbed the bank, and, following 

 the tracks, suddenly saw him standing head 

 on beside a bamboo clump, staring at me, not 

 forty yards away. Only his head and the 

 upper part of his throat were visible. In another 

 moment he would have been off ; but I was just 

 in time to give him a solid nickel in the throat. 

 He rushed off, but stood again a few yards 

 farther on, evidently on his last legs. His 



