IIUFFALO HUNTING. 



291 



I had wished to do so. One by one thev rose, stretch- 

 ed themselves, rubbed their horns upon the trees, and 

 again lay down. At length something, which I could 

 not guess, alarmed them, when the buffalo I wanted 

 sprang to his feet, affording me a certain shot, but my 

 cap disappointed me. I then had a snap shot through 

 the cover with my left barrel, and sent a bullet through 

 his heart. 



The herd took to the hills, and, by an extraordinary 

 chance, I again fell in with them, while galloping along, 

 half way to my camp. Dismounting, I ran in after 

 them, and commanding their attention by a shrill whis- 

 tle, the herd halted and faced half about, when I drop- 

 ped a fine old cow with a single ball. On returning to 

 camp T found a party of Baquaines, among whom was 

 a brother of Sichely's. These men informed me that 

 the Boers had been making many inquiries concerning 

 me, and that they had stated that it was their intention 

 to come in force on horseback and take me prisoner. 

 The BeohuanaSj however, further stated that all the 

 horses of the Boers were dead with the distemper. An 

 attack from them being, however, by no means improb- 

 able, I deemed it prudent to hold myself in a certain 

 degree prepared, and resolved, in the event of Mr. Ed- 

 wards, the missionary at Bakatla, thinking the road by 

 the Mamouri unsafe, to hold a more westerly course, and 

 go out by the country of the Bawangketse. Another 

 valuable black shooting-mare died of the fell distemper. 



My losses in cattle this year were very considerable. 

 Up to this time fourteen horses and fifteen head of cat- 

 tle had died, making my losses in all four expeditions 

 into the far interior amount to forty-five horses and 

 seventy head of cattle, the value of these being at least 

 ^600. I also lost about seventy of my dogs. 



