THE BUFFALO. 407 



On one occasion Selous pursued two old buffalo bulls, and overtak- 

 ing them twice endeavoured to fire at one of them, but the gun did 

 not go off in consequence of the cap having fallen from the nipple, 

 when the animal, entering a patch of short thick mopani bush, 

 stopped suddenly, wheeled round, and came on at once, as soon 

 as he caught sight of the horse, with his nose stretched straight out 

 and his horns laid back, uttering the short grunts with which these 

 animals invariably accompany a charge. The hunter observes : — 



" There was no time to be lost, as I was not more than forty 

 yards jfrom him ; so, reining in with a jerk, and turning the horse 

 at the same instant broadside on, I raised my gun, intending to put 

 a ball, if possible, just between his neck and shoulder, which, could 

 I have done so, would either have knocked him down, or at any 

 rate made him swerve ; but my horse, instead of standing steady as 

 he had always done before, now commenced walking forward, 

 though he did not appear to take any notice of the buffalo. There 

 was no time to put my hand down and give another wrench 

 on the bridle (which I had let fall on the horse's neck), and for the 

 life of me I could not get a sight with the horse in motion. A 

 charging buffalo does not take many seconds to cover forty yards, 

 and in another instant his outstretched nose was within six feet of 

 me, so, lowering the gun from my shoulder, I pulled it off right in 

 his face, at the same time digging the spurs deep into my horse's 

 sides. But it was too late, for even as he sprang forward, the old 

 bull caught him full in the flank, pitching him, with mo on his back, 

 into the air like a dog. The recoil of the heavily charged elephant- 

 gun, with which I was unluckily shooting, twisted it clean out of 

 my hands, so that we all, horse, gim, and man, fell in different 

 directions. My horse regained its feet and galloped away imme- 

 diately, but even with a momentary glance, I saw that the poor 

 brute's entrails were protruding in a dreadful manner. The 

 buffalo, on tossing the horse, had stopped dead, and now stood 

 with his head lowered within a few feet of me. I had fallen in a 

 sitting position, and facing my unpleasant-looking adversary, I 

 could see no wound on him, so must have missed, though I can 

 scarcely understand how, as he was very close when I fired. 

 " However, I had not much time for speculation, for the old 



