138 
AFRICAN GAME TRAILS 
big dogs. A moment after, they gave tongue within the 
papyrus; then we heard the savage grunt of the buffalo and 
saw its form just within the reeds; and as the rifles cracked, 
down it went. But it was not dead, for we heard it grunt 
savagely, and the dogs bayed as loudly as ever. Heatley 
now mounted his trained shooting-pony and rode toward 
the place, while we covered him with our rifles, his plan 
being to run right across our front if the bull charged. The 
bull was past charging, lying just within the reeds, but he 
was still able to do damage, for in another minute one of 
the dogs came out by us and ran straight back to the farm¬ 
house, where we found him dead on our return. He had 
been caught by the buffalo’s horns when he went in too 
close. Heatley, a daring fellow, with great confidence in 
both his horse and his rifle, pushed forward as we came up, 
and saw the bull lying on the ground while the two other 
dogs bit and worried it; and he put a bullet through its 
head. 
The remaining bull got off into the swamp, where a 
week later Heatley found his dead body. Fortunately 
the head proved to be in less good condition than any of 
the others, as one horn was broken off about half-way up; 
so that if any of the four had to escape, it was well that this 
should have been the one. 
Our three bulls were fine trophies. The largest, with 
the largest horns, was the first killed, being the one that 
fell to my first bullet; yet it was the youngest of the three. 
The other two were old bulls. The second one killed had 
smaller horns than the other, but the bosses met in the 
middle of the forehead for a space of several inches, mak¬ 
ing a solid shield. I had just been reading a pamphlet by 
