404 WILD ANIMALS. 



with anxiety. He was snuffing the ground where he had been 

 pounding me. He seemed to listen for a few moments, and then, 

 to my inexpressible relief, went to look for me in exactly an 

 opposite direction, and presently entirely disappeared. Now or 

 never was the time to escape. I managed to struggle to my feet, 

 the trees and grass seemed to be whirling round me. I took 

 twenty or thirty hurried, tottering paces along the edge of the 

 lake, and then, bleeding fearfully, fell over insensible. The next 

 thing I remember on coming to my senses, was my wretched 

 companion kneeling by my side crying, and attempting to stop the 

 bleeding of my arm." 



The native, after assisting to bandage up the wounds, went for 

 assistance, and during the night returned with some of Baldwin's 

 friends, and he was carried to his bungalow, where he lay for 

 many weeks before recovering, which gave him plenty of time to 

 ponder over the lesson he had been taught with respect to the 

 care required when shooting in the jungle to avoid the chances 

 of meeting an old bull buflfalo. 



The animal that was the cause of his troubles received his 

 desserts shortly afterwards ; for Baldwin's brother officers, bent on 

 revenge, crossed on a number of elephants into the swamp that 

 had been the scene of the disaster, and speedily found the old bull 

 at home. He charged them once and died game, with his carcase 

 riddled with buUets. 



The Cape buffalo (Buhalus caffer) is readily distinguished from 

 its Indian congener by the shape of its horns, for they are very 

 broad at the base, and the roots so nearly meet on the top of the 

 head that the whole forehead appears covered and protected by 

 them. 



This species was once well distributed in herds over the plains 

 of central and southern Africa, but gradually and surely they are 

 now decreasing in numbers, and being driven further back, for 

 the hide is of value, and in consequence of late years the animals 

 have been subjected to an incessant hunting. In a few more 

 years, if the slaughter continues, the Cape buffalo in common with 

 the African elephant will be nearly as sparce as the bison on the 

 American prairies. 



