64 
WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WAYS 
CHAP. 
plain. The practice with the long 3-oz. rifle was 
most interesting, and afforded instructive experience 
in the penetration and stopping power of the heavy 
bullet. Upon one occasion I managed to separate a 
herd, and five buffaloes swam across a bend of the 
lake and reached a long but narrow spit of land which 
extended for several hundred yards into the water. 
Upon reaching the base of this narrow promontory 
I saw that the buffaloes would dispute- the right 
of possession, and I advanced with extreme caution, 
the 3-oz. rifle in my hand, while a trustworthy 
native carried the long 2-oz. My people were so 
thoroughly confident in the power of these weapons 
that they had no fear of animals, which in ordinary 
circumstances they would certainly have avoided. 
We had not proceeded far when the buffaloes 
which were on the point ranged up together, and, 
without much demonstration, a large bull made a 
determined charge at full speed upon us, fortunately 
without being accompanied by his companions. 
A shot from the 3-oz. met him exactly in the 
chest, and his momentum was so great that, being 
shot through the heart, he turned a complete somer¬ 
sault, and lay dead upon the muddy ground. This 
two-grooved rifle was easy to load, as the belt of 
the bullet was so prominent that it fitted at once 
into the broad and deep lines of the barrel. I had 
just placed the cap upon the nipple when, un¬ 
dismayed by the fate of the first buffalo, another 
bull charged, but not with the same velocity. This 
fellow was regularly crumpled up, and lay floundering 
